ADDISON, Ala. — On a very chilly night at Addison High School, the 2-0 Addison Bulldogs hosted the 1-2 Hanceville Bulldogs to see which Bulldog would come out on top. Addison’s pitching staff has been outstanding early in the season, only giving up one run through two games and they helped lead Addison to a 7-2 victory Friday night.
Addison started lefty Colton Tyree, who notched the win in the season opener against Good Hope. Hanceville struck first with a leadoff single, followed by a passed ball and a wild pitch. With a runner on third and no one out, Tyree settled down and got the next two Bulldogs out. This brought up Senior Kainen Cruce who lined a solid single to left, scoring the runner and giving Hanceville a 1-0 lead. Tyree got out of the inning without giving up anything else.
Hanceville started Junior Carson Wilbanks and he was outstanding. Wilbanks got the Addison hitters out, three up and three down, on only four pitches. At the end of the first inning, Hanceville led Addison 1-0.
After a scoreless second inning, the Addison defense had a little trouble in the third as three errors allowed a run to score, bringing the score to Hanceville 2, Addison 0.
Wilbanks continued to master the Addison hitters as he breezed through the first four innings, allowing only two hits and after four innings, Hanceville still led 2-0.
Tyree dodged trouble in the fifth inning, allowing two hits, but stranded the runners and patiently awaited the Addison Bulldog bats to wake up. He didn’t have to wait long.
Going into the bottom of the fifth inning and trailing 2-0, Addison’s bats finally came alive. Will Tuggle hit a sharp shot to the shortstop who couldn’t handle it, allowing Tuggle to reach first. McKinley Cagle singled, placing runners on first and second with no one out. This was the first trouble that Wilbanks had gotten into all night. One out later, Cannon Hiller singled to load the bases. Jessie Brock hit an infield single to score Tuggle for Addison’s first run and Bret Smith walked to bring home Cagle and tie the game at 2. With the bases still loaded and two outs in the inning, Nelson Martin destroyed a Wilbanks fastball to dead center field for a double. This hit easily plated Hiller, Brock and Smith to give Addison a 5-2 lead headed to the sixth.
Tyree shut down the Hanceville Bulldogs in the sixth inning, overcoming an error and a wild pitch. Tyree struck out two batters and Smith threw out a runner trying to steal third base. Smith has thrown out all three runners who have tried to steal on him this year.
Addison added two more insurance runs in the sixth. Cagle led off with a tremendous double to the center field wall, which was followed by a Brody Dollar single. Brock brought home Cagle with a single and Smith brought Dollar around to score with another base hit. At the end of six innings, Addison had a commanding 7-2 lead.
Colton Tyree finished off the Hanceville Bulldogs in the seventh, picking up the complete game victory.
Addison improves to 3-0 with their 7-2 win over Hanceville while Hanceville drops to 1-3 on the season.
After the game, Hanceville Head Coach Michael Chandler was proud of his starter for competing on the mound but said his team just couldn’t come up with enough offense to stay with Addison.
“This was Carson’s (Wilbanks) first varsity start. Was very proud of him and how he competed,” Chandler said. “We had one bad inning and could not come up with a timely hit when we needed it.”
Addison Head Coach John Everett was concerned with his team’s sluggish start and the high number of errors but is proud of his kids for getting the win.
“I didn’t feel the energy at the start of the game that we needed. Their pitcher (Wilbanks) pitched well, he kept the ball around the plate and let his defense help him. That is not us, we don’t make those kinds of mistakes,” Everett said. “Just lapses in concentration and we can correct that,” Everett said. “I was very happy that we got behind 2-0 and didn’t panic. Even when we weren’t hitting our kids stayed focused at the plate and pushed through.”
Stat lines: Hanceville pitcher Carson Wilbanks threw five innings, giving up only two earned runs, allowing five hits, walking two and striking out three. Kainen Cruce had three hits along with an RBI and Ashton James added a hit and a run scored.
Addison starting pitcher Colton Tyree went seven innings giving up two earned runs, allowing seven hits, no walks and struck out 10. This gives Tyree 18 strikeouts in 10 innings this year. Brock had one hit, two RBI’s and a run scored. Smith had two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Nelson “Crusher” Martin had two more hits, including a double with three RBIs. Martin has absolutely hit the cover off the baseball early in the season. Cagle had two hits, including a double and scored two runs. Dollar and Hiller had a hit apiece and each of them scored a run.
Addison will travel to play Falkville Saturday morning at 10 while Hanceville heads to Fairview for a matchup with the Aggies and Danville at 1 and 3 p.m.
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