CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – O'Fallon Township School from Illinois denied the Cullman Bearcats a title in the Rawlings Select Classic Saturday afternoon, claiming a 3-1 victory that ended an eight-game winning streak for the No. 1 team from Class 6A of the Alabama High School Athletic Association.
Cullman earned a trip to the championship at Lake Point Park by defeating St. Rita from the Chicago area 6-1 in the semifinals.
The Bearcats sent Owen Lovell to the mound, but he was replaced after getting one out because of an undisclosed problem with his right arm. O'Fallon scored two runs on one hit and a throwing error to put the Panthers on top after half an inning.
Health Zuber went the distance for O'Fallon, allowing the Bearcats just three hits on singles by Lovell, Michael Myers and Noah Fondren.
Myers relieved Lovell in the first and kept it at 2-0, until the Panthers produced a run in the fifth on two singles and was in control the rest of the way.
A throwing error on a grounder by Jacob Heatherly allowed Fondren to score for the Bearcats in the sixth, narrowing the margin to 3-1.
Cullman was able to get a runner on in the seventh when Wheeler Eastman drew a walk with one out. But pinch hitter Peyton Colvard grounded to first base for a double play to end the game.
Kade Williams came in to pitch the final two innings for the Bearcats, not allowing the Panthers to add to their side of the scoreboard.
Bearcats take down St. Rita in the semifinals:
Cullman grabbed a 2-0 lead on St. Rita after the top of the first with Will Morrison on the mound for the Bearcats in the semifinal.
A pickoff at second base erased a runner and enabled Morrison to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the first.
From there, Morrison was sharp on the hill, keeping the Mustangs at bay until they put a couple of runners on in the seventh and scored on a two-out single.
That was the first run allowed by Cullman pitching in 20-plus innings in the tournament.
Morrison finished with a strikeout to end the game. The right hander gave up just five hits and struck out seven to send the Bearcats to the championship.
Cullman added two runs to the scoreboard in the second with Fondren scoring on a wild pitch that led to an ejection of the St. Rita pitcher for kicking Fondren at the plate.
The Bearcats picked up a run in the third and an insurance run in the sixth on a pinch hit double by Colvard, scoring Weston Norton from first base.
Cullman is 18-4 overall; the Bearcats return to Alabama and will play at Curry on Monday afternoon. After that, coach Brent Patterson and his squad journey to Cary, North Carolina for the USA Invitational. The Bearcats will play their first assignment on Wednesday at 2 p.m. local time.
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