VINEMONT – It may have been cold during Vinemont's game against Tanner Friday evening, but the Eagles' bats were red-hot, and a big second inning was key in their 12-4 win over the Tanner Rattlers.
Tanner struck first in the second inning. Jireh Jackson led off with a line drive single to left field. DaShaun McNabb hit a single to right, moving Jackson over to second with one out. Consecutive two-out stolen bases by Jackson and McNabb had Tanner in business. An error by Corbin Barnett at third allowed Jackson to score to give the Rattlers a 1-0 lead.
Vinemont answered in their half. Clay Rogers reached on a dropped third strike to lead off the inning, then advanced to third on an error by first baseman Jake Powers. Dakota McGraw lined a one-out single to left field, driving in Rogers to tie the game at one. He moved to second on a passed ball, to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a two-out RBI single to left field by Boland to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Boland stole second, went to third and scored on back-to-back passed balls to increase the lead to 3-1. Barnett walked and later scored on an RBI groundout by Derrick Ransom, and Cody Stewart scored on a passed ball later on in the inning to push the lead to 5-1.
Barnett hit a one-out single to left field to lead off the Eagle fourth. He then stole second. Ransom moved him over to third on a single to left field, and Barnett scored later to make it a 6-1 ballgame.
Tanner looked to answer in the top of the fifth. Ronnie Long and Curt Bates hit consecutive singles to lead off the inning for the Rattlers. Long stole third, and with one out, Bates stole second. Powers reached on an error by the shortstop, Rogers, which allowed Long to score, and that cut the Vinemont lead to 6-2; JR Lucas cut it to 6-3 with an RBI single to right field.
Consecutive one-out singles by Rogers and Travis Hopper, plus a bunt single by Landen Ballew, had Vinemont looking to break the game wide open. Boland lined an RBI single to left field on the first pitch, then McGraw scored on a passed ball. Barnett hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 9-3. Stewart lined an RBI double to center field and the rout was on, as Vinemont ended their half inning up, 10-3. Hooper hit a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth to make it 12-3. Tanner added their final run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by McNabb.
Justin Hoffman pitched a complete game for Vinemont, allowing six hits, four runs, two of them earned, walking five, striking out three and hitting one. Boland had two hits and two RBIs. McGraw added a hit and an RBI, as did Stewart. Barnett had an RBI, as did Ransom. Hopper added two hits and two RBIs. Vinemont improved to 5-14 on the season, and in four of those wins, they have scored 10 or more runs. They will travel to Hanceville on Monday.
Lucas and McNabb each had RBIs for Tanner, and Jackson, Long, Bates and John Roberts scored runs.
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