Seniors lead Oxford to Spring Break victory over Golden (Colo.); Alexandria sweeps, PV swept, Munford splits, Ohatchee goes toe-to-toe with bigger foe
FRIDAY BASEBALL
Choccolocco Park Spring Break Experience
Piedmont 11, Staley (Mo.) 10 (9 inns.)
Oxford 10, Golden (Colo.) 3
Piedmont 9, Dothan 7
Staley (Mo.) 8, Dothan 5
Smoky Bear Invitational
Seymour, Tenn.
Maryville (Tenn.) 7, Ohatchee 4
Other Games
Alexandria 8, Munford 7 (9 inns.)
Alexandria 8, Spring Garden 0
Munford 14, Spring Garden 12
Foley 12-11, Pleasant Valley 5-6
By Al Muskewitz
OXFORD – After his team lost the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader with Springville that snapped a 10-game winning streak and evened the area series, Oxford coach Wes Brooks decided it was time for an intervention.
He brought his seniors together and, down the line, asked each of them how they felt about what just happened and what they planned to do about it.
After that bit of soul searching, the Yellow Jackets went back out and won the nightcap to earn the series tiebreaker. They continued trending upwards Friday beating Golden (Colo.) in its final game in Alabama 10-3.
“I guess that just flipped a switch and showed we need to prove a point that we’re the leaders of this team and we need to make a statement for the younger guys, to step up,” Miguel Mitchell said as he was getting in some post-game stretches in the bullpen.
Chance Griner went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and Mitchell pitched 4 2/3 innings of solid relief to lead the Jackets’ victory.
“Two seniors answered back, made a statement,” Brooks said. “Tough night last night with the Game 1, but two seniors came in today and said, ‘hey, jump on my back, I want to win a championship.”
The Jackets scored at least one run in each of the first four innings, capped by three in the fourth. Golden scored one in the sixth and Oxford answered with four in the bottom of the inning.
Griner had a leadoff double in the second and scored the go-ahead run. He also had singles in the fourth and fifth and a double in the sixth right after Hudson Gilman scored run No. 10 on a wild pitch.
“I had a bad day last night but each day is a new day, you come out here and try your best and good things happen,” he said. “This is my last year and I told all of them before the season even started I’m going to give you all I have no matter if we’re losing by 10 or winning by 10. I’m playing every day like it’s my last because you never know, it could be.”
Mitchell came on in relief of starter Jackson Crow in the second. He kept the Demons off the board until the sixth. He gave up five hits in 4 2/3 innings, didn’t issue a walk and struck out three.
They had a lot of help. Hayes Harrison and Carter Johnson both had two hits and two RBIs, while Gilman and Tide Gann both drove in a pair of runs.
The game was the last of three for Golden on its trip to Alabama. The Demons (2-3) lost all three – to Hoover (10-2), Cullman (11-2) and Oxford (10-3) – but coach Jackie McBroom said the trip will make his team better when they return home to play the sixth-ranked team in their state Monday and beyond. In fact, he said, it’s his expectation they won’t lose again.
“I’m OK coming down here going 0-3 and seeing good competition as long as we’re taking away something that’s going to help us perform better in Colorado,” McBroom said. “I believe with the pitching staff we have this year, with our pitching staff and our defense we’re going to win a lot of baseball games. Honestly, when we go back to Colorado – and we’re going to talk about this in a second – my expectations are we won’t lose another game.”
Oxford is now 8-3 against out-of-state competition since 2016. The Jackets play two out-of-state visitors Saturday — Staley (Mo.), which split its first two games at The Big House Friday, at 10 a.m. and Grove City (Ohio) at 12:30 p.m., both on the Signature Field.
Golden 010 001 1 – 3 6 2
Oxford 111 304 x – 10 12 3
WP: Miguel Mitchell. LP: Palmer. 2B: Hayden Carbone (G), Braeden McCarroll (G), Tide Gann (O), Chance Griner 2 (O), Sam Robertson (O). 3B: Noah Wicks (G), Roby Brooks (O), Hudson Gilman (O).
Maryville (Tenn.) 7, Ohatchee 4: The Indians went toe-to-toe with the larger Rebels for five innings, then Maryville took the lead with four in the sixth. Ohatchee closed to within 5-4 in the home sixth, then the Rebels scored two insurance runs in the seventh. Carson Tittle, Devin Howell and Brent Honaker had Ohatchee’s three hits.
Maryville 000 014 2 – 7 10 2
Ohatchee 001 003 0 – 4 3 4
WP: Hughes. LP: Jake Roberts. 2B: Brent Honaker (O). HR: French (M).
Foley 12-11, Pleasant Valley 5-6: The Raiders opened a 6-1 lead after three innings of the nightcap, but couldn’t hold it as their hosts scored six in the fourth and four in the fifth to take control. Braydon Maye went 3-for-3 and Holt Bentley had two hits for PV.
In the opener, Foley scored three in the first inning and opened a 7-0 lead before the Raiders got on the board.
PV scored two in the fifth on an RBI double by Samuel Duncan and Duncan scored on a wild pitch. The Raiders made it 7-5 in the sixth with Pelham Parris’ RBI single, Connor George’s RBI double and Nathan Shaw’s fielder’s choice.
Pleasant Valley 000 023 0 – 5 5 6
Foley 300 405 x – 12 13 2
WP: Logan Snowden. LP: Pelham Parris. 2B: Connor George (P), Samuel Duncan (P), Gavin Glass (F). 3B: Jeff Ihle (F).
Pleasant Valley 213 000 0 – 6 10 2
Foley 100 640 x – 11 10 2
WP: Aspen Holmes. LP: Connor George. 2B: Connor George (P), Garrett Cranmer (P), Payton Raulerson (F), Evan Catlin (F), Aspen Holmes (F).
Alexandria 8, Munford 7: The Valley Cubs walked it off on Austin Jeffers’ RBI single with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
The Cubs trailed 5-2 going to the home sixth, but scored twice in that inning and once in the seventh on Evan Snow’s run-scoring fielder’s choice to force extra innings. Both teams scored in the eighth.
Ian Cartwright went 3-for-5 for Alexandria.
Munford 14, Spring Garden 12: The Lions erupted for seven run in the top of the seventh to erase an 11-7 deficit. Jonathan Ponder went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Connor Morgan went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to lead Munford’s 11-hit attack. [*** read more]
