HANCEVILLE, Ala. – In the first semifinal matchup of the Cullman County Baseball Tournament on Saturday, the Fairview Aggies, who got a first-round bye, took on the Cold Springs Eagles. The Aggies got out to a hot start, and added to their lead every time they played offense, winning a 13-0 blowout that ended after the fifth inning.
Starting the game on the mound for Fairview was Collin Nelson, who pitched a stellar 5.0 innings, allowing only three hits, zero runs and striking out four Eagle batters. For Cold Springs, Cooper Johnson started the match and pitched only two innings, with nine runs coming in (four of them were earned) and fanning two Aggies.
The tone was set early by Fairview. After a three up, three down inning by Nelson on the mound, the offense got a quick jolt from Conner Scott in the form of a single, then Collin Nelson made it on with a walk. In the next at bat, Camden Cullen drove both of them home with a double to left field. Cullen would eventually score, too, on a sac bunt by Jaxson Robertson. Finishing out the scoring for the first inning, Konnor Dunkin made it to first safely thanks to an error that also allowed Hunter Barron to score from third after getting on with a single earlier in the inning. Just like that, the Aggies led 4-0.
The Eagles struggled to get anything going against Nelson again in the top of the second, but got one of their three hits on the day from Chasteen, who got a ball to drop in right field for a single. Nelson would shut the inning out with a strikeout on the next batter, setting the stage for the Aggies to keep their offense rolling. Johnson looked to be finding some rhythm on the mound for Cold Springs, striking out Fairview’s leadoff batter and drawing a ground out on the next. With two outs, however, Conner Scott sent one to deep center field and rounded the bases for a triple, then scored on the next play on an error that allowed Nelson to reach safely. Cullen then stepped up and, just like in the first inning, hit a double to score Nelson. One more two-out run would come in on an errant throw after a fly ball by Barron got down, allowing Cullen to score and the Aggies to make it a 7-0 hole.
In the bottom of the third, Fairview’s Robertson led off with a triple after a one-two-three inning from Cold Springs, then made it home with an error on the next play. The Aggies’ landslide of scoring continued, with two more runs getting home in the third to make it 10-0, then added three more in the borrow of the fourth to make it a 13-0 shutout win for Fairview.
Leading the Aggies at the plate was Cullen, who finished the game 2-3 with two doubles that drove in three total runs. Not far behind him was Scott, who also went 2-3 including his triple in the second inning.
With the win, Fairview secured a spot in the Cullman County Baseball Tournament championship today at 4 p.m., where they’ll play the winner of Good Hope vs. West Point.
