Cullman's Hunter Moore ready to swing at a pitch from Winston County's Eli Edgil Tuesday in the Dizzy Dean Area 1 Tournament / Johnny Thornton
HOLLY POND – Tuesday night was a tough one for three local teams in the Dizzy Dean 12-under, Area 1 Tournament at Holly Pond Lion’s Club Park.
District V champion, Cullman, was eliminated by a 14-2 loss to Winston County.
Holly Pond lost a close encounter with Jasper by the score of 6-4. That knocked them out of the tournament as well.
Vinemont ran into a stout Rock Creek team that sent them to the loser's bracket, 13-3. The good news for Vinemont is they have qualified for next week's 12-under state tournament to be played in Scottsboro.
Cullman and Winston County was a rematch of the District V championship game eight days ago in Vinemont. This time, Winston County was not going to be denied the victory.
A two-run single from Eli Moore in the first propelled Winston County to the lead. Moore singled home Sy Blanton and Eli Edgil.
Four runs were scored by Winston County in the second inning, with the key hit being a two-run single from Briley Millican. Edgil drove home a run on a single and the score was 6-0 with Cullman in need of a rally.
Cullman got a pair of runs back against Edgil with a double by Tanner Gaines scoring Lane Parker and a ground out to the mound from Logan Brothers getting Rames Martines in to close the gap to 6-2.
Parker relieved Gaines in the second and got a pair of outs in the third after Winston County put runners on with a single from Eli Kennedy and a walk to Blake McCurley.
The hit that broke the game open was a single up the middle from Cam Steele, moving Winston County to an 8-2 advantage and on their way to sending Cullman out of the area tournament.
Five runs in the fifth allowed Winston County to close it out by the run rule when Edgil got three consecutive outs after allowing Gaines a base hit to lead off the final inning. Gaines had both hits for Cullman, with the All-Stars struggling at the plate, striking out nine times against Edgil.
Holly Pond can't hold on vs. Japser:
With one inning left, Holly Pond held a 4-3 advantage over Jasper. But Jasper put together a comeback, scoring three times to take the lead, and then kept Holly Pond at bay in the fifth to win it by the final of 6-4.
Luke Clark singled for Jasper, Spencer Rainfield and Jamie Brewton doubled, and Cory Shepherd tripled. Luke Aldridge earned the win for Jasper.
Austin Huddleston's double was the lone hit for Holly Pond. He was charged with the loss.
Early lead for Vinemont doesn't last with Rock Creek:
Rock Creek was down 3-0 after a half inning when Vinemont got two hits and took advantage of a walk and a hit batter.
But Rock Creek had the bats ready to swing in its half of the first, sending 12 runners home on eight hits. Landon Guthrie, Jarred Hyde and Austin Echols had two-run singles against three Vinemont pitchers.
After the first, Vinemont slowed Rock Creek down, allowing only one run the rest of the game. That came in the third with Rock Creek up 13-3.
The game ended in the fourth via the run rule.
Jasper remains in the tournament:
In the last game of the evening, Jasper topped Winston County 15-6, putting them out of tournament play. Jasper led 5-0 after the top of the second with Winston County waking up from a slow start and cutting the lead to 6-5 following the third.
But Jasper used hits and took advantage of Winston County miscues, scoring four in the fourth and five in the fifth to put the game out of reach.
Winston County finishes fourth in the area, which is good enough to get them to the state tournament next week. They will join Rock Creek, Vinemont and Jasper representing Area 1.
On Wednesday, Vinemont and Jasper meet at 6 p.m. with the winner to battle Rock Creek for the title at 8 p.m.
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