Isaac Smith (35) slides safely into second base during Vinemont's 11-7 win over J.B. Pennington on Wednesday. (Nick Griffin for The Cullman Tribune)
VINEMONT, Ala. – The Eagles moved to 2-1 Wednesday afternoon after holding off a come from behind effort from J.B. Pennington and securing an 11-7 win on their home field.
Vinemont jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the bottom of the first but couldn’t maintain that level of run production the rest of the way.
Adam Dunn got the start on the mound for the Eagles and made quick work of the Tigers in the top of the first before the flood gates opened in the bottom half of the inning. Travis Hopper and Deacon Samples led off with a pair of walks and Hopper came around to score on a fielder’s choice to give Vinemont an early 1-0 lead. Isaac Smith walked to load the bases and another run crossed the plate when Hudson Wood was hit by a pitch. Three more walks and a hit batter extended the early lead to 5-0 and an RBI single from Hopper brought Zander Noblett around to score and make it 6-0. Wyatt Thomason singled up the middle to put two more runs on the board and an RBI single from Smith gave the Eagles a 9-0 advantage going into the second inning.
Dunn collected three strikeouts in the top of the second, but Pennington trimmed the lead to 9-2 with a home run over the left field fence in the top of the third. The Tigers were able to cut it to 9-3 going into the bottom of the inning, but another RBI single from Smith and an RBI single from Clay Rogers put Vinemont ahead 11-3 going into the fourth.
Pennington tacked on two more runs in the fourth and the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Eagles’ lead and they held on to win it 11-7. Smith finished 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and Thomason led the team with three RBIs of his own. Hopper and Rogers each finished with two hits in the win.
Vinemont Head Coach Matt Collins is happy with how his team has been swinging it early on this season but wants to see his players continue making better decisions as the year progresses.
“We’ve been swinging it OK. We’ve been hitting it right at people, but hitting it a lot better than we have in the past,” Collins said. “The guys are kind of starting to really play baseball instead of just being out here, but we just have to work on making good decisions.”
The Eagles will try to pick up their third win of the season when they host Fairview on Friday.
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