VINEMONT, Ala. – Cold Springs and Vinemont last faced off against each other in the Cullman County Baseball Tournament on March 27th, a game that Cold Springs ended up winning, 9-4. Friday’s county game took place at Vinemont, and it went back-and-forth early on. Vinemont took the lead in the third inning, but a huge sixth inning by Cold Springs saw them take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, as they ended up defeating Vinemont, 11-6.
Cold Springs didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard against Vinemont’s starter Travis Speer. Ayden Black and Lindan Hill started the game off with back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners, then three pitches later, Boston Archer lined an RBI double to left field to give Cold Springs the early lead. Copper Johnson took the first pitch he saw into left field for an RBI single, then Brooks Black added a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. Later that inning, Blake Phillips, Johnson’s pinch-runner, scored on an error to put Cold Springs ahead, 4-0.
Vinemont, though, countered with a big inning of their own in their half against Cold Springs’ starter Ayden Black. Tucker Mauter hit the first pitch he saw into right field for a single, then a pair of errors allowed him to score to cut it to 4-1. Josh Rhodes and Carson Drummond drew back-to-back walks to put runners at first and second with nobody out, and a sacrifice bunt moved them to second and third with one out. A few pitches later, Rhodes crossed the plate to make it 4-2, then Drummond would later score on a passed ball to cut it to a one-run game.
After a scoreless second inning by Speer and Black, Vinemont took the lead in the bottom of the third. Speer hit a one-out single, then Lukas Ming drew a walk to put runners at first and second. A passed ball moved both runners up 90 feet, and after a strikeout, Ryne Dalton lined an RBI single to center field to bring home Speer, as that tied things up at four. Later that inning, Jhace Cornelius, Ming’s pinch-runner, scored on a passed ball to give Vinemont their first lead of the game at 5-4.
Both starters, along with their relievers, put zeros on the scoreboard for the next two innings. Cold Springs quickly broke that trend and then some in the top of the sixth. Brandon Chasteen led off the inning with a double, then Colt Perdue followed that up with a single to put runners at the corners. Dru Prevatt’s RBI single to center field tied the game up at five. Perdue later scored on a passed ball, then Black lined an RBI triple to right field to give Cold Springs a 7-5 lead. Black later scored on an error, then later that inning, Cold Springs had runners at first and second with two outs. Hill stole third and scored on an error, then Black added an RBI double, and Chasteen’s RBI single brought home Black to stretch their lead to 11-5.
Vinemont got a rally started with one out in their half, as Dalton hit a single and Banks Borwick lined a double to right field to put runners at second and third. Perdue, though, quickly shut the door on a potential comeback by Vinemont, as he struck out Speer and Ming to get out of the inning unscathed. Vinemont had one last chance to extend the game. Davey Johnson led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, then a passed ball and a ground ball moved him over to third. Mauter brought home Johnson on a ground ball to cut it to 11-6. Rhodes lined a double to left field to keep things alive for Vinemont, but Perdue got Drummond to fly out to end the game, and Cold Springs ended up knocking off Vinemont, 11-6.
All but two players drove in runs for Cold Springs (12-6). Black finished with a hit and two RBIs. Chasteen collected three hits and an RBI. Black, Hill, and Prevatt each added a pair of hits and an RBI in the game, while Archer and Johnson each posted a hit and an RBI in the win. For Vinemont, Dalton (two hits) and Mauter each drove in a run in the loss.
