VINEMONT, Ala. – After defeating Phil Campbell in round two, the Vinemont Eagles were back home at Mike Cupp Field Friday afternoon to host a ranked matchup against Winfield in the 3A quarterfinals. Unfortunately for the home crowd, the Pirates dominated game one 14-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the series and in game two, Winfield plated four runs in the sixth to pull away with a 10-2 win and end the Eagles’ season in round three. Vinemont finished the season 26-12 and advanced to the third round of the state playoff for the first time in program history.
Winfield 14 – Vinemont 2 (Game One)
The Pirates got off to a fast start, plating five runs in the top of the first and one more in the top of the second to take an early, 6-0 lead. Winfield tacked on three more runs in the third to make it a 9-0 game, but Vinemont was able to get on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the inning. Back to back singles from Jake Hale and Josh Rhodes gave the Eagles a pair of runners and a couple pitches later, Owen McKinney lined an RBI single to right field to cut the lead to 9-1. Rhodes came home to score on a sacrifice fly from Kayden Henderson to make it a 9-2 game going into the fourth inning.
A bases-clearing double put Winfield in front 12-2 in the top of the fourth and the Pirates tacked on two more runs in the fifth to wrap up a 14-2 win in game one.
McKinney (one RBI) and Hale each posted a pair of hits in the loss.
Winfield 10 – Vinemont 2 (Game Two)
After a scoreless first inning, Rush Sandlin laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Kayden Henderson and give Vinemont a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Winfield got the run back in the bottom half of the second to tie the game at 1 going into the third. That’s when the storms hit and game two was postponed to Saturday night and moved to Cullman High School’s Bill Shelton Field.
Winfield tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third to pull ahead 3-1 but an RBI single from Sandlin drove in Hayden Robinson to trim the lead to 3-2. The Pirates plated two more runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead. The Eagles were unable to answer the scores from Winfield and in the bottom of the sixth, the Pirates put four runs on the board to pull away with a 10-2 win and advance to the semifinals.
Sandlin (one hit) posted a pair of RBIs in the loss. Chad Reynolds, Rylan McRae and Robinson each added a hit as well.
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