CARROLLTON, Ala. – After dominating Skyline in round one, the Addison Bulldogs hit the road for a round two battle at Pickens Academy on Friday. After a slow start in game one, the Bulldogs plated five runs in the top of the fourth and five more in the top of the sixth to pull away with a 12-2 win. However, the Pirates bounced back to take game two 4-1 and force a game three.
Addison 12 – Pickens Academy 2 (Game One)
The Pirates put one run on the board in the bottom of the first to take an early lead. Kiah Lake drew a walk to lead off the top of the second and Kaden Dyson singled to give Addison a pair of runners, but they were left stranded and Pickens Academy stayed in front 1-0. Jed Wilkins led off the top of the third with a double to center field, but three straight strikeouts ended the scoring opportunity for the Bulldogs.
After three scoreless innings, Addison was able to pull ahead in the top of the fourth. Lake drew a walk to lead things off and Casen Hill entered the game to run for him. After Hill stole second base a few pitches later, Dyson drove an RBI single up the middle to plate Hill and tie the game at 1. Carter Pratt followed with another single and Wilkins was intentionally walked later in the inning to load the bases. Tucker Thompson drew a walk to bring in another run and give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. Stone Talley was hit by a pitch to make it 3-1 and after Wilkins scored on a steal, a wild pitch allowed Thompson to score and put Addison in front 5-1 going into the fifth.
The Pirates were able to trim the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth, but the Bulldogs got the run back and then some in the top half of the sixth. Pratt reached on an error and Dathan Cleghorn walked to give Addison a pair of runners. Pratt advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and an error allowed him to score a few pitches later, giving the Bulldogs a 6-2 lead. Talley kept things going with a 2-run double to center field, stretching the lead to 8-2. Lane Stewart drew a walk to put runners on the corners and Lake knocked another 2-run double into right field to make it a 10-2 game going into the bottom of the sixth.
Lake needed just nine pitches to collect three outs in the bottom half of the sixth. Pratt led off the top of the seventh with a single to left field and he moved over to second on a wild pitch. That’s when Cleghorn lifted an RBI double to left field to drive in Pratt and make it 11-2. Cleghorn scored on an error later in the inning to give Addison a 10-run lead with just one frame left to play. The Bulldogs collected the final three outs in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 12-2 win in game one.
Lake pitched a complete game to earn the win, allowing four hits, two unearned runs and striking out six batters. At the plate, Talley finished the game with a pair of hits and three RBIs. Lake (one hit) and Thompson (one hit) each drove in a pair of runs as well.
Pickens Academy 4 – Addison 1 (Game Two)
After a scoreless first inning, Addison took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Tanner Gaither scored on a fielder’s choice. Both teams combined for just one hit over the next two innings, but Pickens Academy was able to put three runs on the board in the top of the fifth and take a 3-1 lead.
The Pirates tacked on one more run in the top of the sixth to move ahead 4-1 and Addison was unable to answer in the seventh, allowing Pickens Academy to claim game two and force a tiebreaker on Saturday.
Pratt finished the game with a hit and an RBI and Tucker Thompson and Kiah Lake each added a pair of hits in the loss.
The Bulldogs will head back to Pickens County for game three Saturday at 1 p.m.
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