RUSSELLVILLE – It was a beautiful afternoon for baseball on Tuesday as the defending 6A state champ Cullman Bearcats traveled northwest to take on the defending 5A state champion Russellville Golden Tigers.
Cullman looked dominate in the top of the first, scoring three runs. Noah Fondren got the Cats on the base paths, leading off the game with a hot shot to short that was fielded cleanly but thrown too low for the first baseman to handle, allowing him to reach. After the next batter struck out it was junior Phenom Owen Lovell’s turn at the dish where he cranked out a single.
Following another Bearcat strikeout, Kolby Robinson served the Russellville offering to left field, scoring Fondren. Lovell would also come home and Robinson would reach second after the Golden Tiger left fielder misplayed the ball and let it roll past. Carter Bowen would add another Cat RBI on a two-out double that scored Robinson. After one half inning of play, Cullman enjoyed a 3-0 lead.
Trailing by three before they had even picked up a bat didn’t seem to faze Russellville as they went straight to work. Reed Smith led off the Golden Tiger half of the first with a solid single and was moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Judd Ward. Next up was Landon Oliver, who hammered a pitch up in the zone and took it over the right field fence for a two-run jack that pulled Russellville to within a single run.
Cullman went three up, three down in the top of the second, bringing Russellville back to the plate. The Golden Tigers would tie the game in the bottom of the second on a two-out double by Smith that scored Cody Greenhill.
The score would remain knotted at three until the bottom of the seventh and final inning. Smith got it started with a one-out single and stole second. The next Golden Tiger batter struck out, then Oliver drew a two-out walk.
The fourth batter of the inning was Austin Kitterman, and he made sure he was the last. He drove the first strike he saw over the fence in straight away left field for a walk off, three-run homer to give Russellville the 6-3 victory in thrilling fashion.
