VINEMONT, Ala. — Hanceville took a short trip over to Vinemont to face the Eagles in a Friday afternoon doubleheader and the two squads split both games. Elsewhere in the county, Cold Springs edged the Holly Pond Broncos 3-2.
Hanceville 16 – Vinemont 4 (Baseball) (Game One)
Hanceville struck first in their opening at-bats. Nelson Arteaga hit a one-out double, then Les Fischer followed that up with a single to left field to put runners on the corners. Gabriel Ognilla lined an RBI single to left field to give the Bulldogs the early 1-0 lead, but Vinemont answered right back in their half. Hayden Robinson hit a leadoff single, then a ground ball and a fly ball moved him up to third. He would score on a passed ball to tie the game up at one.
After a scoreless second, Hanceville broke the tie in the top of the third. A single, a Vinemont error, and another single loaded the bases with no outs for Dalton Johnson. He hit a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. After Cody Belcher hit a single to load the bases once again, Ashton Hurst got hit by the pitch to force in a run, then Jackson Cleveland hit a sacrifice fly of his own to center field to push their lead to 4-1.
Hanceville would add to their lead in the fourth as they ended up loading the bases once again with one out. An Eagle error allowed Arteaga to score, then later on, Hurst drew a bases-loaded walk to increase their lead to 6-1. Vinemont had a chance to cut into the deficit in their half as they loaded the bases with two outs, but Cleveland forced Zeke Olinger to ground out to end the threat.
The Bulldogs completely broke the game wide open in their half as they sent 15 batters to the plate and scored 10 runs. Arteaga (RBI single and three-run double), Tripp Lewis (RBI single) and Ognilla (RBI single) were the biggest hits of the inning as Hanceville quickly swelled their lead to 16-1. Vinemont looked to extend the game in their half as they loaded the bases with one out, then Jacob Hale hit a sacrifice fly, Robinson scored on a passed ball, and Joshua Rhodes hit an RBI single to cut it to 16-4. They wouldn’t get any closer after that as Cleveland got Rylan McRae to ground out to end the game as Hanceville collected a 16-4 win over Vinemont in game one.
Arteaga (four RBIs) and Ognilla (three RBIs) each finished with five hits for Hanceville. Johnson and Hurst each added a pair of RBIs. Lewis ended up with a pair of hits and an RBI. Cleveland added a hit and an RBI, while Fischer and Belcher each collected a hit in the game. For Vinemont, Rhodes finished with two hits and an RBI. Hale added a hit and an RBI, while Robinson and Michael Foust each ended up with a hit as well.
Vinemont 14 – Hanceville 12 (Baseball) (Game Two)
Hanceville got in the run column first in the second game. Jake Cornelius hit a leadoff single, stole second, and later scored on an RBI single by Fischer to give them the early lead. Vinemont countered in their half as Foust hit a single, moved to second on a double play ball, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game up at one. A Bulldog error allowed Ayden Thomason to cross the plate, then Brady Johnson hit an RBI single to center field to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead.
A walk and a hit by pitch had Hanceville in business with two outs in the second, then Arteaga hit an RBI double to left field to cut it to 3-2. The Eagles, though, added to their lead in the bottom of the third. Thomason hit a one-out single, then moved up to second on a wild pitch. He later scored on an RBI triple by Rhodes, then Johnson followed that up with an RBI single to make it 5-2. Johnson later scored on another Hanceville error to push the Vinemont lead to 6-2.
For the second time in as many games, Hanceville batted around and put up 10 runs as they sent 15 batters to the plate. Fischer hit an RBI double, Arteaga scored on a Vinemont error, and Fischer scored on a balk to cut it to 6-5. Belcher hit an RBI double to left field to tie the game up at six, then the rest of their damage came with two outs. RBI singles by Cleveland and Cornelius gave Hanceville an 8-6 lead, then a two-run double by Fischer and a two-run single by Ognilla pushed their lead to 12-6.
The Eagles looked to answer right back in their half. Foust hit a leadoff double, then stole third and later scored on an RBI groundout by Hale to cut it to 12-7. After a walk and a single, McRae hit an RBI infield single to make it a 12-8 game. They looked to continue to cut into the Bulldog lead even more in the bottom of the fifth. Robinson drew a leadoff walk, then stole second and Foust drove him in on an RBI double to left field to trim it to three at 12-9. Foust scored on a wild pitch, then later on, Jordan Eller scored on a Bulldog error and McRae hit an RBI groundout to tie the game up at 12.
Vinemont would be the team to break the tie in their next at-bats. Chayce Sandlin reached on a leadoff walk, then later on, Foust reached on a one-out bunt single. With two outs, Sandlin and Foust stole a base, then Sandlin scored on a balk and Foust crossed the plate on a passed ball to give the Eagles a 14-12 lead. Hanceville looked to get something going in the top of the seventh as they drew a one-out walk, but Rhodes got back-to-back strikeouts to end the game as Vinemont ended up winning a wild back-and-forth game against Hanceville, 14-12.
Johnson led the way for Vinemont with three hits and a pair of RBIs. McRae added a hit and a pair of RBIs. Foust ended up with four hits and an RBI. Rhodes added a hit and an RBI. Hale chipped in with an RBI of his own, while Robinson and Thomason each collected a hit as well. For Hanceville, Fischer (three hits) and Ognilla (two hits) each finished with three RBIs. Cornelius ended up with three hits and an RBI. Cleveland added two hits and an RBI. Arteaga and Belcher each collected a hit and an RBI in the contest, while Hunter Black chipped in with a hit of his own.
Cold Springs 3 – Holly Pond 2 (Baseball)
Brodee Bartlett retired Holly Pond in order to start out the game. Cold Springs got in the run column first. Cole Bales hit a leadoff single, then he moved to second on a passed ball. Bartlett put the Eagles on the scoreboard first on an RBI single. Both starters, Bartlett and Holly Pond’s Levi Farr, kept the game at 1-0 going into the top of the fourth. Bartlett gave up his first hit of the game on a single by John Martin, then Sawyer Olinger drew a walk and Bradly Butts got hit by the pitch to load the bases with no outs. Somehow, Bartlett was able to get out of the inning by striking out the next three batters.
Cold Springs added on to their lead in their half. Brady Phillips drew a leadoff walk, then Matt Williams reached on a bunt single to put runners on the corners. A suicide squeeze play by Ethan Nabors allowed Phillips to score as that gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Bartlett continued to rack up the strikeouts as he struck out the side in the top of the fifth, then Cold Springs loaded the bases with two outs as they looked to increase their lead. Farr, though, had other ideas as he struck out Williams to get out of the inning unscathed.
Holly Pond looked to finally get in the run column in the top of the sixth. Martin hit a leadoff single, then an Eagle error allowed him to move up to second. With two outs, Boston Gibbs hit an RBI single to left field to cut it to 2-1, then after a single, Chase Brazelton’s RBI double tied the game up at two. The Broncos looked to break the tie in the top of the seventh, but Bales had other ideas, though. After walking Ethan Tapscott to lead off the inning, he got the next three batters to end the inning. The Eagles looked to win the game in their half. Cody Smith and Phillips each hit back-to-back singles with one out, then the pinch-runner for Smith, Samuel Turner, scored on a game-winning suicide squeeze play by Williams, as the Eagles picked up a huge 3-2 win at home over the Broncos.
Bartlett finished with a hit and an RBI for Cold Springs. Williams and Nabors each added an RBI. Smith ended up with a pair of hits. Bales, Tucker Philbeck, and Phillips each added a hit in the game. Bartlett went six innings, giving up five hits and two runs, walking three, and striking out 10. Bales gave up a hit and struck out two in his inning of work. For Holly Pond, Gibbs and Brazelton each finished with a hit and an RBI. Martin added three hits and Peyton Queen collected a hit of his own. Farr gave up just four hits and one earned run in his five innings of work, walked five, and struck out six.
Cold Springs will host Altamont Monday and Holly Pond will head home to take on Cleveland.
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