Corner pitcher Bryant Payne looks down after a rough outing on the mound in Saturday’s 13-0 five-inning loss to Calera in the third game of the best-of-three first-round playoff series.

By Robert Carter

The North Jefferson News



The first round of the AHSAA high school baseball playoffs started with three local teams and hopes of advancing deep into the post-season.

The second week of the playoffs will see all three teams watching from the stands.

Corner, Gardendale and Mortimer Jordan were all bounced out of the post-season with losses in their best-of-three series last weekend.

Corner took visiting Calera to a rubber game on Saturday, before the Yellow Jackets succumbed to a 13-0 pounding in Class 6A.

Hueytown, which had lost twice in the regular season to Gardendale, turned the tables on the Rockets by sweeping Friday night’s Class 6A doubleheader.

And Jordan, which faced the daunting task of taking on Cullman, the defending champion of Class 5A and its top-ranked team this year, found out why the Bearcats hold that lofty status.



CLASS 4A

Game 3: Calera 13,

Corner 0 (5 innings)

After battling back in Friday’s nightcap with a 10-5 win over the Eagles, Corner simply could not overcome the pitching of Calera’s Chris Anderson, who threw a two-hit shutout.

Zac Isbell put a punctuation mark on the game with a walk-off grand slam that ended the contest on the mercy rule.

Isbell’s slam came after a last-ditch attempt by Corner to extend the game, when they intentionally walked J.R. and Trent Posey to load the bases with two outs. The move backfired, as Isbell sent the ball well over the fence in left center to clinch the best-of-three series.

Anderson struck out eight batters and handed out three walks. The closest he came to any trouble was in the second inning when he walked Scott Butler, who advanced to third on passed balls, but couldn’t score when Anderson fanned the next two Yellow Jackets.

Trent Posey was a home run away from the cycle, with a triple, a run-scoring double and a single to go 3-for-3. Anderson and Jeremy Hyde each had RBI doubles.

The Eagles had taken the opening game of the series 18-7 in six innings Friday night, only to fall 10-5 in the nightcap. Calera capitalized on six Corner errors in the first game, and Hyde stung the Yellow Jackets with a homer and two doubles. Anderson finished off a five-run rally in the first inning with a two-run triple, and Trent Posey had a triple as well.

Corner retaliated in the second game with a six-run rally in the third inning. Pitcher Jake Eiland had three doubles and was 4-for-4 for the Jackets. Calera’s main threat came in the third when Eiland walked three straight Eagles, and J.R. Posey brought two of them home with a single. But Calera scattered six hits, all singles, as Eiland fanned six.

Corner ends the season with a 11-16 record, but with a sixth consecutive area championship.



CLASS 5A

Cullman 24-8, Jordan 2-0

Drew Bryson tossed six innings of shutout ball Friday night, sending top-ranked Cullman (29-14) to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs with an 8-0 victory over Mortimer Jordan (25-20) in game two of their best-of-three series.

The senior left-hander struck out 12 while giving up three hits and walking one as the two-time defending state champion Bearcats began their state title defense.

Bryson out-dueled Blue Devils top starter Skylar Myrick, who allowed all eight runs on 10 hits and two walks in seven innings.

Nearing the 100-pitch mark, Bryson was replaced by Daniel Moore in the seventh. After a leadoff walk, Moore struck out two to finish the game.

Cullman came out of the blocks quickly, scoring three runs in the first inning on Austin Golden’s double.

In the opener, the host Bearcats trailed 2-0 after half an inning before reeling off 24 unanswered runs in the opener.

Cullman pushed across five runs in the bottom of the first, highlighted by Ben Moore’s three-run homer. The Bearcats added five more in the second, nine in the third and five in the fourth.

Kyle Johnson pitched three innings in the start, giving up two unearned runs on four hits.

Matthew Britton and Chase Mathis added homers for the Bearcats, while Austin Freeman drove in three runs.

—Michael Cummings, The Cullman Times



CLASS 6A

Hueytown 6-2,

Gardendale 2-1

The Rockets had fielding problems in Friday’s second game, but the winning play no one can defend.

Alex Scott’s lead-off solo homer broke a 1-1 tie and propelled Hueytown to a 2-1 victory and a sweep of their first-round playoff series.

Conner McCain went the distance for Gardendale in the nightcap, allowing only two hits.

Hueytown took an early lead in the first inning, scoring the run without a base hit thanks to two dropped third strikes and a fielder’s choice.

The Golden Gophers had won the opening game 6-2, coming back from a 2-1 deficit with a five run rally in the fifth inning. Three of the runs were unearned.

The Rockets finish with a 20-10 season record.