ROUNDUP: Swann delivers 3 RBIs, Jordan tops Clay-Central in Game 3; Gardendale to host No. 8 Homewood next week

Published 4:35 pm Saturday, April 21, 2018

KIMBERLY— Mortimer Jordan (27-12) scored 10 runs in the second frame and senior Joseph Swann pitched four strong innings for the Blue Devils in a must-win game Saturday. The Area 11 champions polished off their first-round playoff series with a 14-4 win over Clay-Central (16-11) in five innings.

Mortimer Jordan split a Friday doubleheader with the Volunteers, winning Game 1 by a count of 10-5 and losing Game 2 by a count of 4-3. Once it was all over, head coach Shayne Carnes saw his senior experience as the deciding factor.

“Central High School of Clay County has a really good team. I know they’re young, but they have some really good players and they are a scrappy bunch and they’re a lot like we are. I think where the difference comes in is we’ve got seven seniors and they don’t have that many. They play a lot of young kids and they’re going to be really good down the line,” said Carnes.

Clay-Central head coach Michael Anderson went with three sophomores and an eighth-grader in his lineup on Saturday. Carnes’ lineup included six seniors and only two sophomores.

Despite four more defensive errors behind him (Mortimer Jordan committed eight total errors on Friday), Swann worked four strong innings on the mound. He surrendered three hits and struck out four batters before handing it over to sophomore Griffin Busby to close the door.

“I was very proud of [Swann] for competing and getting it done,” said Carnes.

Busby closed things out with a strikeout and two flyouts in the fifth.

“Griffin has really been a back-end guy for us all year. The thing that’s good about him is he locates his breaking ball for a strike and he can throw a fastball for a strike and he stays around the zone. He doesn’t walk a lot of people,” said Carnes.

The Volunteers did find offense early on as an infield error scored Caden McCain from second, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead in the first inning. McCain later drove a two-out RBI liner into center field to stretch the lead to 2-0 in the second, but Mortimer Jordan broke the series open in the home-half.

The Blue Devils scored 10 runs on five hits while chasing two Clay-Central pitchers in the second. Swann drove home three of those runs with a single and a double. Garrett Hall, Chase Batchelor and Dalton Hall also recorded RBIs for Mortimer Jordan during the decisive second.

Swann finished 3 for 3 with three RBIs. Dalton Hall went 2 for 3 with two RBIs to go with two more RBIs from Batchelor, who put the 10-run rule into effect with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth.

Mortimer Jordan will visit West Point (21-13), who swept Pleasant Grove 12-2 and 3-2, next Friday in the second round.

The Gardendale baseball team (21-9) took two out of three from McAdory (15-15) at home in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs. The Area 12 champions recovered from a 6-4 loss in the series opener with a 12-4 win followed by a 4-2 win in the Game 3 finale on Saturday.

Gardendale will host No. 8 Homewood, who swept Minor 16-0 and 15-3, in second-round play next Friday.

The Fultondale baseball team brought an end to its season with a first-round sweep at seventh-ranked Prattville Christian. The Panthers won two games on Friday 17-1 and 12-0, ending Fultondale’s season with a record of 4-10.

Erik Harris is the Sports Editor of The North Jefferson News. Email him at njnsports@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jeharris2.