VINEMONT, Ala. – The Vinemont Eagles secure this year’s 3A, Area 12 Championship during the regular season and as a result, they were back home at Mike Cupp Field Thursday night to host Randolph County in the opening round of the state playoffs. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead in game one and fended off a late push from the Eagles to secure a 7-4 win and a 1-0 lead in the series. Vinemont and Randolph County traded leads throughout game two but the Eagles were able to outlast the Tigers 15-12 and keep their postseason hopes alive. Vinemont will be back on the field Friday at 4:30 p.m. with a spot in round two on the line.
Randolph County 7 – Vinemont 4 (Game One)
After a scoreless first inning, Randolph County strung together five hits in the top of the second to take an early, 6-0 lead over Vinemont. The Eagles were able to cut into the lead in the bottom of the third. Josh Rhodes led off the inning with a double to left field and a few pitches later, Kayden Henderson drove an RBI single down the left field line to trim the lead to 6-1. Rylan McRae and Rush Sandlin drew walks to load the bases later in the inning and Henderson scored on an error to make it a 6-2 game going into the fourth.
Both defenses tightened up after that. Vinemont was able to load the bases in the bottom of the fourth, but a strikeout ended the inning and kept the lead at 6-2. The Tigers tacked on another run in the top of the seventh to stretch their lead to 7-2 going into the bottom half of the inning.
Hayden Robinson led things off with a single and with two outs on the board later in the inning, Tucker Mauter shot an RBI double into center field to bring the lead down to 7-3. After Chad Reynolds drew a walk, Jake Hale knocked an RBI single back up the middle to plate Mauter and make it a 3-run game, but Vinemont was unable to chip away any more than that and Randolph County held on to take game one, 7-4.
Hale (one hit), Henderson (one hit) and Mauter (one hit) each recorded an RBI in the loss.
Vinemont 15 – Randolph County 12 (Game Two)
Both teams were scoreless in the opening frame, but the Eagles struck first in the top of the second. Hayden Robinson reached first on an error and a sacrifice bunt from Rylan McRae allowed him to move over to third base. Rush Sandlin was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners and Tucker Mauter laid down another sac bunt to score Robinson and put Vinemont in front 1-0.
Randolph County responded in the bottom half of the inning, pushing a run across to tie the game at 1 going into the third. The Eagles regained the lead in the top of the third. Josh Rhodes led off with a triple into left field and Owen McKinney laid another bunt down the first base line to bring in Rhodes and give Vinemont a 2-1 lead. The Tigers hit back hard in the bottom of the third, plating four runs to take a 5-2 lead into the fourth inning but the Eagles weren’t done yet.
Mauter drew a walk to lead off the top of the top of the fourth and that’s when the bats got hot. After back to back singles from Chad Reynolds and Jake Hale loaded the bases, Rhodes lined a an RBI single to left field to cut the lead to 5-3. McKinney put Vinemont back in front on the next pitch when he launched a bases-clearing double into center field and made it a 6-5 game. Henderson drew a walk to put runners on the corners and Robinson sent a 2-run double to right field to give Vinemont an 8-5 lead. After McRae drew another walk and Robinson stole third, Sandlin laid down a bunt to bring in another run and make it 9-5. The Eagles continued to manufacture runs with bunts as Mauter laid another one down and scored McRae to put Vinemont ahead 10-5 going into the bottom half of the fourth.
The Tigers trimmed the lead down to 10-8 in the bottom of the fourth, but the Eagles added to their lead in the top of the fifth. A bunt single from Robinson allowed Rhodes to score and gave Vinemont an 11-8 lead. One pitch later, McRae punched a 2-run single into center field to make it a 13-8 game and a sacrifice bunt from Sandlin gave the Eagles a 14-8 lead going into the sixth inning.
With the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, Sandlin was hit by a pitch, bringing in another run to put Vinemont in front 15-8. Randolph County cut the lead to 15-9 in the bottom of the sixth and was able to make it a 3-run game in the seventh, but the Eagles collected the final three outs they needed to secure a 15-12 win and force a game three.
McKinney (one hit) led the Eagles with four RBIs in the win. Robinson (two hits) and Sandlin each added three RBIs and McRae (one hit) and Mauter each posted a pair of RBIs.
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