BOAZ, Ala. – The West Point Warriors took a road trip over to Boaz to take on the Pirates in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs. Game one was a pitcher’s duel through four innings, and Boaz held a 3-1 lead after six innings. The Warriors went on a late rally to take the lead, but the Pirates tied it up to send the game into extra innings. Boaz ended up scoring on an error in their final at-bats, as they would go on to take game one, 5-4. Game two was all Pirates, as they jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and kept added onto their lead as the game went on. Boaz ended up routing West Point, 18-2, ending the Warriors’ season.
Boaz 5, West Point 4 (Game One – Extra Innings)
West Point looked to get on the scoreboard first in their opening at-bats. Titan Thornton and Dathan Cleghorn drew back-to-back walks with two outs, but Boaz starter Haagan Dodd struck out Dawson Crow to end the inning. Thornton gave up a one-out single to Sage Bennett in the bottom of the first, but he quickly got the next two batters to fly out and strike out, respectively, to keep the game scoreless going into the top of the second. Dodd retired the Warriors in order in the top of the second, and Thornton got out of a jam in the bottom half of the second to keep it at a 0-0 tie going into the top of the third.
West Point cooked up a two-out rally in the top of the third. Charlie Ashley lined a 1-1 pitch into left field for a base hit, then Thornton lined the first pitch he saw into left field for an RBI double to give the Warriors the 1-0 lead. Boaz got that run back in their half. Sage Bennett hit a one-out single to right field, and he came around to score on an RBI double by Cooper Whorton to tie it up at one. West Point got a pair of runners on base in the top of the fifth, as they looked to break the tie, but Dodd had other ideas, as he collected the final two outs of the inning to keep the score tied up at one going into the bottom of the fifth.
Sage Bennett led off the Boaz fifth with a single, then one out later, Bradyn Bennett drew a walk to put runners at first and second with one out. Beau Bennett’s RBI single to center field gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead. Thornton got Mason Gaither to line out on the first pitch and was one out away from limiting the damage. Landon Cannady, though, kept the inning alive for Boaz with an RBI single to put them ahead, 3-1, and Thornton was taken out of the game after that. His replacement, Gabe Doohickey, got Mac Thompson to line out to end the inning.
Doohickey retired Boaz on just 10 pitches in the bottom of the sixth, as that gave West Point a chance to extend the game a little further. Boston Freeman led off the seventh with a walk, then Ashley lined a single into center field to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Thornton drove in Freeman on an RBI single to left field to make it a one-run game. A single by Cleghorn loaded up the bases for Crow, who ended up reaching on an error, and that allowed Max Patterson, the pinch-runner for Ashley, to score to tie things up at three. After Cleghorn moved up to third on a double play, and a huge RBI single off the bat of Carter McAfee gave the Warriors a 4-3 lead.
Boaz, though, responded in their half. They loaded the bases with one out, and a sacrifice fly by Cannady tied it up once again at four, and the game would end up going into extra innings. West Point put a pair of runners on with two outs in the top of the eighth, but Beau Bennett struck out Cleghorn to end the inning. Dayton Porter got hit by the pitch, then an error on Crow on a pickoff attempt allowed Porter to score all the way from first to give the Pirates the stunning 5-4 win over the Warriors.
Thornton finished with a pair of hits and two RBIs for West Point, and McAfee collected a hit and an RBI in the loss.
Boaz 18, West Point 2 (Game Two)
Boaz quickly got to Game Two starter Dawson Crow in their opening at-bats. Porter led off the game with a single, then he moved up to third on an error and ended up scoring on an RBI single by Sage Bennett to give the Pirates the early lead. An error and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out, and Beau Bennett’s two-run double brought home Bradyn Bennett and Sage Bennett to make it 3-0. Cannady added an RBI single with one out to put them up, 4-0, then a passed ball allowed Beau Bennett to score to give them a 5-0 lead. Garrison Lusk drove in a run on a fielder’s choice to make it 6-0.
The Pirates added two more runs in the top of the second on an RBI double by Gaither and an error. The Warriors loaded the bases in their half, but a ground ball quickly ended the inning. West Point cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, as Thornton hit a one-out single and later scored on an error to cut it to 8-1. Boaz, though, quickly countered in the top of the fourth, as they put up eight runs, which including a bases-clearing double by Cannady, to take a commanding 16-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth. The Pirates put up two more runs in the fifth to make it 18-1. The Warriors’ final run of the game came on an RBI single by McAfee, and West Point’s season came to an end at the hands of Boaz, 18-2.
McAfee finished with a hit and an RBI for the Warriors. Freeman and Thornton each added a pair of hits, while Crow and Cooper Howard ended up with a hit of their own in the game.
West Point finishes the season with a record of 19-15.Â
