VINEMONT, Ala. – The Vinemont Eagles returned home Monday night to host a varsity doubleheader against Meek and they were able to defend their home territory and collect a pair of wins over the Tigers. Vinemont edged Meek in game one 9-8 after withstanding a late rally from the Tigers and the Eagles put game two away in just five innings by a score of 18-8.
Vinemont 9 – Meek 8 (Game One)
Ayden Thomason got the start in game one for Vinemont and got two of the first batters out to start out the game. But a pair of Meek walks, a wild pitch, and an error later, the Tigers found themselves up, 2-0. The Eagles answered right back in their opening at-bats. Matthew Foust drew a one-out walk, then stole second and moved to third on a throwing error. Jacob Hale drew a walk, then a double steal allowed Foust to score as that made it a 2-1 game.
Vinemont grabbed the lead and widened it in the second inning. Preston Williams hit a leadoff single, then later scored on a Thomason RBI double to tie the game up at two. Keith Slaton would steal home later in the inning to help give the Eagles a 3-2 lead. Colby Miller got hit by the pitch and Foust lined a single to center field and they would both later scored on wild pitches to make it 5-2. The Eagles would load the bases with two outs and Williams got hit by the pitch to force home another run as that pushed Vinemont’s lead to 6-2.
Meek trimmed into the Eagle lead in the third inning as an RBI double and an RBI single made it a 6-4 game. Kayden Henderson reached on an error to lead off the Vinemont fourth, then Gabe Friedrich drew a walk. After Williams moved them up 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt, Thomason hit a two-run single to center field to give the Eagles an 8-4 lead. The Tigers made things interesting in the fifth inning as a one-out RBI single and a two-run double trimmed their deficit to one at 8-7.
Vinemont looked to widen their lead in the sixth inning, and they would do just that. Williams reached on an infield single with one out, then Thomason’s hot hitting would continue as his RBI single made it a 9-7 game. The Tigers looked for one last rally in their final at-bats. An error and back-to-back singles cut the Eagle lead to 9-8, but Colby Miller ended up getting the final two outs as Vinemont ended up taking game one, 9-8.
Thomason finished with three hits and four RBIs for Vinemont. Williams added a pair of hits and an RBI in the contest. Foust ended up with two hits and three stolen bases.
Vinemont 18 – Meek 8 (Game Two)
Meek got off to a red-hot start in game two against Eagle starter Colby Miller. The Tigers stole home to grab a quick 1-0 lead, then they loaded the bases with one out. A bases-clearing triple gave them a 4-0 lead. Vinemont got one of those runs back in their half. Miller reached on a dropped third strike, then an out later, Hale and Thomason each got hit by the pitch to load the bases. Williams drew a walk to force home a run to make it a 4-1 game.
The Tigers scored on an Eagle error in the top of the second to push their lead to 5-1, but the bottom of the second inning would see Vinemont’s bats come alive and then some. Hayden Robinson and Rylan McRae each drew one-out walks, then after a force out for out number two, Foust hit an RBI single to make it a 5-2 game. Hale drew a walk, then Thomason would continue his red-hot hitting as he hit a two-run single to right field to trim the deficit to one at 5-4. A Meek error allowed Hale and Thomason to score to give Vinemont a 6-5 lead. Williams would later score on another Tiger error to make it a 7-5 game.
The Eagles would blow the game wide open in their next at-bats. Robinson got hit by the pitch with one out, then McRae drew a walk. Miller drove in Robinson with an RBI single to make it 8-5, then McRae scored on a wild pitch to increase Vinemont’s lead to 9-5. Later on, Hale and Thomason each drew bases-loaded walks to make it 11-5, then Hale would later score on a passed ball to push the Eagle lead to 12-5. Williams scored on a passed ball, Friedrich got hit by the pitch to force home another run, and Robinson added an RBI groundout as Vinemont’s lead quickly swelled to 15-5.
Hale and Williams each added RBI singles in the bottom of the fourth and Hale scored on a balk to make it an 18-5 game. The Tigers added three more runs in the top of the fifth, but they wouldn’t get any closer after that as Miller threw out Meek’s runner at home plate to help preserve the 18-8 win in game two.
Thomason finished with a hit and three RBIs for Vinemont (6-9). Williams added a hit and two RBIs in the contest, while Miller, Foust and Hale each collected a hit and an RBI as well. Friedrich and Robinson each finished with an RBI in the game.
The Eagles will travel to take on East Lawrence next Tuesday.
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