Cullman's Ben Washburn swings at a pitch from Vinemont's Colby Miller Monday night. / Johnny Thornton
Tonight's schedule:
Holly Pond vs. Japser playing now on field 1
Cullman vs. Winston County playing now on field 2
Vinemont vs. Rock Creek 8 p.m. on field 1
Elimination game 8 p.m. on field 2 (Winners from the 6 p.m. games)
HOLLY POND – Hitting was never a factor in Monday's Dizzy Dean 12-under Area 1 Tournament game between the Vinemont All-Stars and the Cullman All-Stars.
Pitching dominated the contest with Vinemont claiming a 2-0 shutout at the Holly Pond Lion's Club Park as Colby Miller and Rush Sandlin combined to hold Cullman to one hit and strike out 14 batters.
Miller was in a rhythm of his own, striking out 13 in four and two-third innings. He retired the Cullman hitters in the second, third and fourth innings by strikeouts and had two strikeouts in the fifth when he was pulled due to a pitch count of 86 pitches.
Sandlin finished the fifth inning facing one batter and retired the side in the sixth, ending the 1-hour, 25-minute contest when he struck out Ty Federer.
Cullman's Drew Carter had a good outing. Carter did not allow a hit, but Vinemont took advantage of three walks and two hit batters in the third for the only runs of the game. Carter struck out the side in the first two innings before he developed control problems.
Carter went four and a third innings with nine strikeouts, but walked five and hit two batters, allowing Vinemont to manufacture two runs, supporting the efforts of Miller and Sandlin on the mound.
Miller began the Vinemont third when he walked, then stole second and third bases. Hayden Robinson drew a walk, and another walk loaded the bases.
Jarrett Frederich was hit by a pitch from Carter, bringing in Miller to make it 1-0. After Sandlin struck out, another walk sent Robinson home and Vinemont led 2-0 when the inning came to a close.
Cullman's only hit against Miller was a two-out single in the third by Zayden Calvert. But he was left stranded when Hunter Moore struck out to end the inning.
Vinemont opened its half of the fourth with Isaac Moody getting walked. Miller flew out to left field with Moody running on the play and was called in trying to get back to first base. Robinson was issued a walk and Cullman made a change, bringing in Lane Parker.
Parker, the winner in Cullman's 7-4 triumph over Winston County last Monday in the District 5 championship, got out of the inning by a ground ball hit to third.
Miller sent the first two Cullman batters down by strikeouts in the fifth, then was relieved by Sandlin, who ended the inning by having Cole Gentry ground out to him at the mound.
Parker allowed a walk to Frederich to start the Vinemont fifth, with Frederich being sacrificed to second on a bunt by Sandlin. Parker got a fly out and then the inning was over when the plate umpire called the batter out for interfering on a throw by the catcher to third base trying to nail Frederich.
Good defense by Vinemont in the sixth supported Sandlin. Two ground outs were executed and the game closed out on Sandlin's strikeout of Washburn, the 14th by Vinemont pitching.
This was a very different game than last Sunday when Cullman won a slugfest 13-11 in the District 5 Tournament at Vinemont's Sports Complex. Both pitching staffs were well used when they met each other eight days ago in the winner's bracket final.
This time, both had quality hurlers pitching and the end result was one of the best Dizzy Dean games for 12-year old pitchers; they combined for 23 strikeouts and only one hit.
Elsewhere from Monday:
Holly Pond romped over the Police Athletic Team 12-2 and Winston County sent West Point out of the tournament by a score of 10-0.
Holly Pond had a balanced attack in hitting with Hunter Farr getting a single and double; Tanner Shoemaker had a triple, Andy Light a single and triple, Austin Huddleston a double, Ethan Tapscott a single, Levi Farr a double, Austin Marsh a single and John Martin a double.
Levi Farr was the winning pitcher, allowing two runs on two hits and eight strikeouts.
Winston County managed just four hits vs. West Point, but utilized opportunities iand had eight runners reach base on walks and one hit batter. Winston County got a three-run homer early in the first and jumped to a 4-0 lead.
Winston County extended the score to 7-0 by the end of the second and tallied three runs in the fourth to end the game by the 10-run rule.
Eli Edgil singled, Eli Kennedy had a single, Briley Millican a single and Eli Green a single for the winners. Edgil pitched two innings, allowing one hit to be credited with the victory.
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