CULLMAN, Ala. – The Bearcats returned home to Bill Shelton Field Friday night to host a pair of varsity matchups against the Mustangs of Madison Academy and the first game ended with a bang. With the score knotted at 5 going into the bottom of the seventh, Kaleb Heatherly led off the inning for the ‘Cats and blasted a solo homerun over the wall in center field to lead Cullman past the Mustangs 6-5 in game one. It was more of the same in game two. Seven innings weren’t enough to settle things and in the bottom of the 10th, Brennen Norton crushed his second homer of the game and third of the day to give the ‘Cats another walk off win over the Mustangs 5-3.
Cullman 6 – Madison Academy 5 (Game One)
A solo homer from Madison Academy put the Bearcats down 1-0 in the top of the first but the black & gold responded quickly in their half of the inning. Brennen Norton drilled a solo shot of his own to tie the game at 1 and after a single from Heatherly and a double from Hayden Stancil, Max Dueland singled into left field to drive in another run and give Cullman a 2-1 lead. A few pitches later, Matt Brock doubled into left field to score two more runs and make it a 4-1 game going into the second inning.
After a scoreless second and third inning, An RBI single from the Mustangs trimmed the lead to 4-2 in the fourth. Later in the inning, A 2-run double off the center field wall tied the game back up at 4 going into the bottom half of the fourth. The ‘Cats retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Stancil singled into right field and brought Norton home to score but after another pair of scoreless innings, the Mustangs scored on an error to tie things up at 5 going into the bottom of the seventh.
That’s when Heatherly’s heroics came into play. After fouling off the first two pitches he saw, his next swing ended the game. A solo shot over the center field wall gave the Bearcats a 6-5 walkoff win in their first matchup of the night.
Heatherly finished 3 for 4 at the plate with and RBI and the game-winning bomb. Brock finished with two hits and two RBIs and Norton (one RBI) and Stancil (one RBI) each added a pair of hits as well. Jeb Bartle got the start and the win on the mound for Cullman, tossing six innings, allowing five runs and striking out seven batters.
Cullman 5 – Madison Academy 3 (Game Two) (10 innings)
After Hayden Stancil got things started with three strikeouts in the top of the first, Norton put his second homerun of the night over the wall in center field and put Cullman on top 1-0 in the bottom of the first. Stancil struck out two more batters in the top of the second and in the bottom half of the inning, Matt Brock crossed the plate on a wild pitch to make it a 2-0 game going into the third.
The Mustangs got both runs back in the top of the fifth after stringing together some base hits and tied the game at going into the bottom of the inning. After a scoreless sixth inning, we went to the seventh tied at 2. Stancil struck out all three of the Mustangs he faced in the top of the seventh, bringing his total on the night to a whopping 16 and the ‘Cats went back on offense with a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh once again.
Cullman couldn’t get it done in the seventh and the game went into extra innings. After a scoreless eighth frame, Madison Academy was able to take a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly, but the Bearcats weren’t ready to let the game slip away just yet. Hunter Brooks led off the bottom of the ninth with a double into left field and Brock drove him in with an RBI single up the middle to tie the game at 3. However, that was all the ‘Cats could get in the ninth and the game continued into the 10th inning.
Norton struck out two of the three batters he faced to work through a quick top of the 10th and his bat would be even more effective than his arm in the bottom half of the inning. After Jake Dueland drew a leadoff walk, Norton stepped up to the plate and he cranked his third homerun of the day to walk it off once again and lift Cullman to a 5-3 win.
Stancil went eight innings on the mound and racked up 17 strikeouts in the process, allowing just two runs on five hits. Norton led the way for the Bearcats offensively, finishing with a pair of home runs and three RBIs. Brock (one hit) drove in a run for the ‘Cats as well. Cullman improves to 9-4 on the year with the win and will try to stay hot Tuesday against Decatur.
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