GOOD HOPE, Ala. — The Good Hope Raiders hosted Holly Pond in Thursday afternoon baseball action and it was all Good Hope from the start as a couple of big innings helped them build an early lead and roll past the Broncos 18-1.
Holly Pond looked to get on the scoreboard to start the game after Andy Light hit a single to center field and Seth Whiting hit a double to put runners on second and third with two outs, but Braxton Marshall got Charlie Huddleston to fly out to get the Raiders out of the inning unscathed. Caleb Rusk drew a leadoff walk for Good Hope and later scored on a single from Travis Brock. Ethan Anderson, the courtesy runner for Brock, after a couple of errant throws by the Broncos, crossed home plate for the Raiders’ second run of the inning and Preston Seymore later made it 3-0 with a two-out RBI single.
The Raiders blew it open in the second inning as Lawton Farr hit a leadoff double and a pair of walks by Brock and Lane Speegle loaded the bases with one out. Morgan Cook drew a walk, Marshall hit an RBI single and Speegle scored on an error to make it 6-0. Landon Piper drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs, Marshall scored on another Bronco error and Rusk hit a three-run double to make it an 11-0 game.
The Raiders added seven more in the third inning to push its lead to 18-0. Holly Pond got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning as John Martin hit an RBI single, but the deficit was too much for the Broncos to overcome as the Raiders went on to rout Holly Pond 18-1.
Rusk led the way for Good Hope (2-0) with two hits and four RBIs. Marshall and Seymore each collected a pair of hits and two RBIs. Cook and Bagwell each added a pair of RBIs as well and Brock finished with a hit and an RBI. Marshall pitched three and 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up just five hits and walking just one while striking out three. John Martin collected three hits and an RBI for Holly Pond (0-3). Light added a pair of hits and Whiting and Levi Farr each finished with a hit.
Good Hope will host Leeds Saturday afternoon while Holly Pond will look to bounce back at home against Whitesburg Christian Academy Friday afternoon.
Vinemont 2 – West Morgan 0 (Baseball)
Vinemont got a lights-out pitching performance from Deacon Samples, striking out 14, as he no-hit the West Morgan Rebels on the road, 2-0.
The only time that Samples got in trouble was in the bottom of the third inning as he walked three straight batters to load the bases with two outs, but he got the next batter looking to get out of the inning unscathed. The Eagles got a rally started with two outs as Braden Boner, Collin Teichmiller and Ayden Thomason all drew walks to load the bases. Jarrett Friedrich and Austin Riddle then drew back-to-back walks to give Vinemont a 2-0 lead.
Samples really turned it up a notch in the final four innings, striking out nine of the final 13 batters that he faced, and he induced a groundball to Riddle at first base to complete his no-hitter as the Eagles shut out West Morgan, 2-0.
Will Rhodes and Colby Miller collected the only two hits for Vinemont (2-1) and Friedrich and Riddle each finished with an RBI. The Eagles will host Falkville Monday.
Dale County 2 – Fairview 1 (Baseball)
Fairview traveled to take on Dale County and in what turned out to be a pitchers’ duel, Dale County walked it off in the bottom of the seventh as the Aggies wound up dropping the game, 2-1.
An RBI triple put Dale County on the board first in their half of the second, but Fairview answered right back in the top of the third. A one-out triple by Parker Martin later led to an RBI groundout by Brody Hogeland as the Aggies tied it up at one. Both pitchers really settled in after that, keeping the score tied going into the bottom of the seventh, but Dale County loaded the bases with one out and an RBI single ended the game as Fairview wound up losing a heartbreaker on the road, 2-1.
Hogeland finished with a hit and an RBI for Fairview (2-1). Martin added a pair of hits and Bryceson Turner and Tanner Bennett each collected a hit as well. Turner turned in a spectacular pitching performance as he went the distance, allowing just four hits and two runs, walking five and striking out six. The Aggies will travel to take on Providence Christian Friday afternoon for a doubleheader.
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