CULLMAN – For the second and third time in two days, the Cullman Bearcats took care of business against the Fort Payne Wildcats. Coming off a 7-0 win less than 24 hours prior, the Cats hung nine on Fort Payne in dominating fashion.
The first run of the night was an inconspicuous sacrifice fly off the bat of Carter Bowen to score David Thomas, but the Cats had much more in store for the Wildcats.
In the bottom of the third is where the Cullman broke the game open. Thomas reached base on a single to left and was followed on the bags by Owen Lovell who nonchalantly took a pitch off his thigh. With Jacob Heatherly at the dish, Thomas and Lovell executed a double steal to get into scoring position and give Heatherly a chance to bring them home, and boy did he ever. Barely into the at-bat, Heatherly got a pitch he liked and he did not miss it, depositing it over the left field fence for a three-run home run to put the Cats on top 4-0. Heatherly picked up his fourth RBI of the game in the very next inning when he rocketed a run-scoring single into left to add to the Cullman lead.
Up five and showing no signs of slowing down, the Bearcats added three more to their lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a Caleb Lipsey RBI double and a Hayden Henderson RBI single. Lipsey also came home to score on a passed ball. The final run came in the bottom of the sixth when Will Morrison picked up an RBI on a ground out. Cullman retired Fort Payne in the top of the fifth to claim the 9-0 victory in the first game of the doubleheader.
GAME TWO
Cullman 8, Fort Payne 1
Although there was a 20-minute break between the afternoon game and the nightcap, there was no break in the momentum for the Cats. Jordan Bain picked up the one and only Fort Payne RBI of the night when he singled home JC Groat in the top of the second. The rest of the game belonged to the Bearcats.
Cullman took the lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an error and a run-scoring single, but they broke the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth when they scored six times on four hits to take the night cap, 8-1.
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