BREMEN, Ala. – It’s spring break for local schools across Cullman County but there was still some county baseball action on tap Monday when the Good Hope Raiders traveled to face the Eagles of Cold Springs. The Raiders took a quick 2-0 lead in the top but after a scoreless second inning, Cold Springs plated eight in the bottom of the third to take a commanding lead and held off a late rally from Good Hope in the seventh to earn a 16-12 win.
The Raiders led off the top of the first with back to back singles from Caleb Rusk and Preston Seymore and took a 2-0 lead when each of them scored on RBI groundouts from Lane Speegle and Morgan Cook. Good Hope held its 2-0 lead through the second inning, but the momentum shifted in a big way in the bottom of the third.
Cody Smith and Dezmon Estell each drew walks to give the Eagles a pair of base runners and Roberto Ayala singled up the middle to load the bases. An RBI single off the bat of Brodee Bartlett drove in Smith to cut the lead to 2-1 and a sacrifice fly from Brodi Williams allowed Ayala to score from third and tie the game. Bartlett scored on an error to give Cold Springs a 3-2 lead and Joshua Winfrey crossed the plate on a wild pitch to make it 4-2. The big inning continued for the Eagles as three straight walks put two more runs on the board and a hit batter forced in another run to make it a 7-2 game. The sixth walk of the inning brought in another run and Cold Springs went into the fourth leading Good Hope 8-2.
Neither team could get any runs on the board in the fourth inning, but the Raiders began to strike back in their half of the fifth. Seymore was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to trim the lead to 8-3 and a few pitches later, Speegle drove a 2-run single into left field to make it an 8-5 game. Seymore then came home to score on a wild pitch and Good Hope went into the bottom of the fifth trailing by just two.
A pair of errors early in the bottom of the fifth allowed the Eagles to tack on two more runs and stretch the lead to 10-5. Cole Shelton added to the lead with a line drive into center field that scored both Williams and Winfrey to make it 12-5 and Cold Springs wasn’t done there. Andrew Weaver capped off the inning with a single into center field that plated two more runs for the Eagles and made it a 14-5 game going into the sixth.
An RBI single from Rusk drove in a pair of runs for Good Hope and cut the lead to 14-7 going into the bottom half of the sixth but the Eagles were able to get those runs back with a 2-run single from Cody Bales and took a comfortable, 16-7 lead into the final frame.
The Raiders were able to put some runs on the board in the top of the seventh. Speegle scored on a wild pitch and Travis Brock drew a walk with the bases loaded to cut the lead to 16-9. Another walk made it a 16-10 game and a single by Rusk drove in two more runs but Good Hope couldn’t keep it going to overcome the Cold Springs lead and the Eagles held on to defeat the Raiders 16-12.
Bales (two RBIs) and Winfrey each led Cold Springs with three hits in the win. Shelton finished with a pair of hits and RBIs, Weaver (one hit) and Bartlett (one hit) each drove in a pair of runs and Ayala (one RBI) added a pair of hits as well.
Rusk posted three hits and three RBIs in the loss. Speegle (one hit) drove in three runs for Good Hope and Cook (one hit), Seymore (one hit) and Brock each finished with an RBI as well.
Other local scores:
West Point 3 – Giles County 1 (softball)
After falling to Buckhorn 6-0 in their first game Monday morning, West Point looked to bounce back against Giles County and in a pitcher’s duel, the Lady Warriors got just enough runs for starter Braelee Quinn to take the game 3-1.
West Point got things started in the top of the first. Bethany Minck drew a leadoff walk and after a sacrifice bunt moved her over to third, Carlie Wilkins drove her in with an RBI single and with two outs, Braelee Quinn drove Wilkins in with an RBI single of her own to give the Lady Warriors a 2-0 lead. An RBI single by Giles County made it a one-run game after two innings, but West Point tacked on an insurance run with two outs in the top of the fourth as Minck reached on an error and then scored on an RBI single by Lexi Shadix. Braelee Quinn struck out the side in the bottom of the fourth inning and the Lady Warriors ended up taking the game, 4-1.
Shadix, Wilkins and Quinn each finished with an RBI single in the game for West Point (9-12-2). Minck and Brindlee Phillips each collected a hit. Quinn and Wilkins shut down Giles County’s offense, allowing a combined two hits and one run, walking two and striking out four.
West Point 4 – Gordonsville 1 (baseball)
West Point traveled to Gulf Shores for a week of competition and took on Gordonsville in their first of two games Monday and the Warriors got yet another great pitching performance from Branson Smith to pull away and take game one 4-1.
Gordonsville got on the scoreboard first as they scored on a West Point error in the top of the first. The Warriors looked to counter in their half as they loaded the bases with two outs, but a fly out ended the inning.
The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the third inning as Eli Folds hit a one-out single and later scored on an RBI single by Will Cochran as the Warriors tied the game up at one. West Point broke the tie in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cochran lined a one-out single to left field, then Aubry Cleghorn drove him in with an RBI triple to center field and he wound up scoring on a Gordonsville error to give the Warriors a 3-1 lead.
West Point tacked on another run in the sixth as Smith singled and later scored on another RBI single by Cochran to make it a three-run Warrior lead and that was more than enough run support for Smith, who retired Gordonsville in order in the seventh to help seal the 4-1 win for West Point.
Cochran led the way for West Point with three hits and two RBIs. Cleghorn added a hit and an RBI. Smith and Folds each collected a pair of hits and Brody Freeman finished with a hit. Smith went the distance as he gave up just six hits and one unearned run, walked none and struck out four.
Decatur 12 – West Point 8 (baseball)
West Point took on Decatur in their second game of the day and it turned into a high-scoring affair with the Warriors being on the wrong end of a 12-8 defeat at the hands of the Red Raiders.
West Point struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Branson Smith reached on an infield single, then Eli Folds reached on an error. A groundout moved them over to second and third and a balk led to Smith scoring the first run of the game for the Warriors and Aubry Cleghorn hit an RBI ground out to make it 2-0. But Decatur exploded for eight runs in the top of the second and West Point quickly found themselves down 8-2. The Warriors made it a five-run game in their half as Carter Thornton hit a one-out double and later scored on a dropped third strike, but the Red Raiders hit a two-run triple in the top of the third to make it 10-3.
West Point slowly started to chip away at the deficit in the bottom of the third as they loaded the bases with one out. An RBI fielder’s choice by Thornton made it 10-4, then Brody Freeman scored on an error, Smith hit an RBI double and Folds hit a two-run single to swivel the deficit to 10-8. Decatur added two more runs on an error and an RBI single to make it 12-8 in the top of the sixth inning and the Warriors couldn’t cut any more into the deficit as they wound up falling to the Red Raiders, 12-8.
Folds finished with a pair of hits and two RBIs for West Point (11-10). Thornton and Smith each added two hits and an RBI in the game and Cleghorn collected a hit and an RBI. The Warriors will travel to take on Cottage Hill Christian Academy at Robertsdale on Tuesday.
Lindsay Lane 6 – Fairview 2 (baseball)
The Aggies faced Lindsay Lane Christian Academy in their first game of the day in Gulf Shores and trailed by just one run going into the sixth inning, but the Lions plated three runs in the bottom half of the sixth to pull away and top Fairview 6-2.
The Aggies scored runs on an RBI single from Brody Hogeland in the third inning and an RBI single off the bat of Crimson Wright in the fourth, but it was enough to keep pace with Lindsay Lane. Parker Martin finished with a pair of hits for Fairview in the loss and Bryceson Turner and Preston each posted hits as well. Turner went six innings on the mound for the Aggies, allowing five earned runs on seven hits and striking out a pair of batters.
Madison County 2 – Fairview 1 (baseball)
Fairview had one more game to play Monday night and it was a tight one with Madison County. After taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, the Aggies were held off the scoreboard the rest of the night and dropped a low-scoring duel to the Tigers 2-1. Brody Hogeland got the start on the mound and went all six innings for Fairview, allowing just two runs and striking out four batters in the loss.
The Aggies got on the board in the opening frame when Brody Hogeland doubled into left field to put a runner in scoring position and one pitch later, Bryceson Turner laced a single into right field to bring Hogeland home and make it a 1-0 game. Madison County strung some hits together in the bottom half of the inning and tied the game at 1 going into the second and several hit batters in the bottom of the second allowed them to take a 2-1 lead going into the third.
It became a pitcher’s duel the rest of the way and Hogeland effectively shut down the Tigers’ offense, but the Aggies weren’t able to find any runs either and wound up falling 2-1. Fairview posted 10 hits in the loss. On top of his performance on the mound, Hogeland led the Aggies with three hits that included a double and a triple. Levi Garner added a pair of hits in the loss and Turner (one hit) drove in the only run for Fairview. The Aggies will be back on the field Tuesday afternoon to play Foley.
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