GOOD HOPE – Fairview's 20-0 shutout of Holly Pond on Thursday was the only dominant game in the quarterfinal round of the Cullman County High School Baseball Tournament.
Good Hope and Hanceville had to produce come from behind victories to get them to the semifinal round and a step closer of playing for the county championship.
The Fairview triumph ended at 7:04 p.m. with Good Hope coach Mitch Witcher and his staff doing what they could to get things ready for Friday with a storm system to come into the area later in the evening, bringing rain and gusty winds along with it.
The schedule will resume at 1 p.m. Friday, if drying conditions following the rain make it possible.
Good Hope will play West Point in the first semifinal while Hanceville and Fairview will face each other in the second, with the winners to play for the county title in the early evening on the Good Hope campus.
Fairview 20, Holly Pond 0:
No. 2 seed Fairview had the game well in control thanks to a nine-run second inning on just two hits. Holly Pond's pitching hit three Aggie batters in the inning; that, along with three errors, enabled Fairview to take an 11-0 lead once the inning came to a close.
Preston Moore tripled in two runs in the inning while three more runs were off hit batsman and Holly Pond able to turn routine outs with three errors committed by the defense.
The Aggies added four to their side of the scoreboard in the third, thanks to runs batted in from Clay Lanier and Riley Carroll.
Fairview delivered five in its final plate appearance in the fourth on five hits with runs being driven in by Bryson Fletcher, Kyle Wilkerson and Lane Schnittker and a two-run single from Lanier.
Jarrett Miller went the distance for the Aggies, throwing a two-hit shutout in five innings with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Dayne Black got three singles and a double, drove in a run and scored three times to pace the Fairview attack.
Lanier had two singles and three runs batted in while Moore collected two hits with two RBIs and scored three times.
Good Hope 8, Cold Springs 1:
Cold Springs pitcher Cody Anderson had the No. 4 seed Raiders handcuffed through the first three innings, keeping Good Hope hitless and scoreless.
Then the Raiders got to the Cold Springs right hander with seven in the fourth on seven hits.
Warren Creel tripled home the tying run then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice bunt by Preston Bagwell.
A two-run single from Matt Hancock, making his second plate appearance in the inning, was the key hit for the Raiders to break the game open.
Creel, who was 3-of-4 on the afternoon, singled home Gage Henke in the sixth for his third run batted in, and the Raiders gained command of the contest, leading 8-1.
Zach Isbell threw a complete game for Good Hope, giving up five hits with eight strikeouts. He allowed one base runner in the final two innings and struck out three of the final six Eagles he faced.
Cold Springs' only run came in the second on a single by Sam Rollo, who later scored on a sac fly to right field by Kevin Brakefield that sent the Eagles on top 1-0.
The Raiders had eight runs in the final three innings after failing to score and get a hit through the first three frames with Anderson striking out the side in the first and getting the final two outs in the third on strikeouts.
Hanceville 8, Vinemont 4:
A see-saw battle was the highlight of the Hanceville-Vinemont contest.
Hanceville got a 3-0 lead after the first, only to see Vinemont move on top in the third with four runs scoring on three hits.
Garrett Boland drove in the first run on a single then an error on a grounder by Cody Stewart brought in Dakota McGraw to close the deficit to 3-2.
Clay Rogers doubled home Corbin Bennett and Boland off Hanceville starter Brenan Hurst, and the Eagles soared into the lead at 4-3.
But the Bulldogs answered with three in their half of the third, as Dalton Rice and Tim Kubia produced run-scoring plays while another run scampered home on a throwing error from right field.
Hanceville led 6-4 heading to the fourth as Hurst got into a groove on the mound, retiring 12 in a row, before he allowed a single by McGraw with two outs in the seventh to give Vinemont a chance at a comeback.
Hurst hit Bennett and Boland; that loaded the bases and brought Stewart to the plate, representing the tying run.
Hurst struck out Stewart and finished the game with four runs allowed on four hits and five strikeouts.
During his stretch of retiring 12 in a row, Hurst got three by groundouts, six by fly outs and three by strikeouts.
Hurst provided support for the team at the plate with two singles and a double and three runs scored.
Gavin Cruce added a single and a triple and came home twice. Rice delivered two runs batted in, going 2-of-4 from batting fourth in the lineup.
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