COUNTY BASEBALL TOURNAMENT: Hanceville downs Vinemont 8-4; Aggies, Raiders open Day 1 with victories
Published 10:04 pm Thursday, March 9, 2017
- Fairview's Tyler Ball snags a ball at third base.
GOOD HOPE – The Cullman County Baseball Tournament kicked off Thursday, and Day 1’s biggest star was Hanceville’s Branen Hurst.
The senior had a solid outing on the mound and led the No. 3 Bulldogs to an 8-4 win over sixth-seeded Vinemont.
Hurst cruised for the most part. He sat down the first six in order before errors and a couple of timely hits led to four Vinemont runs in the third. He settled down to retire 11 straight after that. He allowed just three hits and hit three batters.
“Branen Hurst did a really good job, and I thought defensively we played pretty well for the most part,” Hanceville coach Michael Chandler said. “Baserunning is where we really lacked today. Made some mistakes there. We put some balls in play but didn’t have as much energy as we wanted.”
“The positive is we won, and we get to play baseball tomorrow.”
Vinemont managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the seventh against a tiring Hurst, but the senior struck out Eagles slugger Cody Stewart swinging to end the game.
Hanceville took advantage of Vinemont mistakes throughout the game, as the Eagles committed eight errors. Four of those miscues came in the first inning, and Hanceville scored three runs off of them. Ashton James, who was running for Hurst, Isaac Holmes and Gaiven Cruce each scored unearned runs in the frame.
The 3-0 lead remained until the third when Vinemont took a 4-3 advantage. This time, errors by Hanceville led to the outburst. Clay Rogers provided the big hit, though, with a two-run double to score Garrett Boland and Corbin Barnett. C.J. O’Neil and Dakota McGraw both scored on errors earlier in the inning.
The lead didn’t last long, as Hanceville put three on the board in the bottom of the frame. Hurst singled and scored, Holmes reached on an error and later scored on Dalton Rice’s single. Cruce scored again later on a fielder’s choice by T.J. Kubin.
Chandler liked seeing his team respond after falling behind.
“With Branen on the mound we can get away with a little bit of stuff,” said Chandler, whose team will play Fairview in the semifinals Friday. “He’s a senior, he’s been doing it for a long time.”
Hanceville scored two more down the stretch to secure the win.
Rogers took the loss for Vinemont, allowing seven runs on seven hits and striking out three while issuing one walk.
While the county tournament championship is meaningful to him and his team, Chandler has to think about the upcoming schedule.
“It’s important, but we got area games starting Monday,” he said. “That’s kind of what we’re really thinking about. But it’s fun to get out here and play. It’s going to make us better.”
No. 4 Good Hope 8, No. 5 Cold Springs 1
The Raiders got the bats going in the fourth inning and rolled to an 8-1 win over the Eagles in the opening game of the tournament.
Trailing 1-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth, Good Hope (3-3) broke through for seven runs. Cold Springs (1-6) starting pitcher Cody Anderson had kept the Good Hope bats at bay before the onslaught.
An RBI triple laced by Warren Creel down the left field line scored Kyle Carlton, and Creel scored on a picture-perfect sacrifice bunt by Preston Bagwell for the go-ahead run. Four straight hits by Houston White, Deven Gowens, Malachi Holt and Zach Isbell led to four more runs, and an error scored Austin Eakes later in the inning.
Creel added an RBI single in the sixth.
For Cold Springs, Sam Rollo scored the lone run on Kevin Brakefield’s sacrifice fly.
On the mound for the Raiders, Isbell was stellar. He allowed one run on three hits and struck out eight in the complete-game effort.
Good Hope plays top seed and defending county champ West Point on Friday in the semifinals. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
No. 2 Fairview 20, No. 7 Holly Pond 0 (5 Innings)
The Purple and Gold defeated the Broncos 20-0 in Thursday’s nightcap.
Aggie pitcher Jarrett Miller allowed just one hit and faced one over the minimum. He struck out seven.
Every player in the Fairview (6-3) starting lineup scored in the second inning after taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Holly Pond (0-5) starter Logan Leach.
Dayne Black went 4 for 4 for the Aggies and scored three runs. Preston Moore and Truman Boyd also scored three runs for Fairview.
For Holly Pond, Zac Naler had the lone hit in the fourth inning.