BREMEN, Ala. – For the fifth consecutive season, the West Point Warriors are Cullman County Tournament Champions and they had to hold off a late push from Fairview in the final frame of the championship game to secure this year’s county title. The Aggies trailed 5-2 going into the top of the seventh and were able to cut the lead to 5-4 with a pair of hits but that was as much as they could chip away, and the Warriors held on to win it 5-4.
Brody Freeman got the start for West Point on the mound and earned the win after tossing 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and striking out eight batters. Freeman also added a pair of hits at the plate and earned Tournament MVP honors as well as this year’s Cullman County Baseball Coaches Association Scholarship.
West Point fell behind 2-0 in the first two innings before pulling ahead later in the game and Warriors Head Coach Drew Bryson was proud of his guys for staying calm and focused after a slow start.
“We knew we were playing a good squad over there in Fairview and their guys are scrappy and they’re going to compete very similar to ours and we didn’t hit the panic button. They scratched two runs across, and they earned them and did a good job of getting guys on, but our guys just did a good job of not getting into panic mode and doing what we do,” Bryson said. “We got into some trouble early trying to run and being over aggressive on the bags and got ourselves thrown out but at the same time we didn’t press. I didn’t feel like the guys were nervous and earlier in the season there have been times where we did get nervous and uptight, but I feel like tonight we stayed relaxed and just did what we needed to do to win. Hats off to them, it was a great baseball game all the way around.”
The Warriors are returning home with the county title for the fifth straight season and even though they didn’t play a perfect game against the Aggies, Bryson was pleased to see his guys step up and make big plays in big moments.
“That’s something that’s hard to do. It’s hard to be consistent year in and year out and this season we have definitely not been consistent from start to finish. In that game against Good Hope we had some things we just didn’t do well and didn’t execute and even in that Fairview game there were a couple times that we didn’t get a bunt down or didn’t execute on the bags but, our guys stepped up when they needed to,” Bryson said. “When it came time to get that hit or make that pitch or make the play, they did it. So, I was really proud of them for that.”
Sylar Philyaw (one hit), JD Cochran (one hit) and Colton McCoy (one hit) each posted an RBI in the win and Andrew Putman and Charlie Ashley added hits as well. Barrett York (one RBI) led Fairview with a pair of hits in the loss and Crimson Wright (one hit), Nic Gregory (one hit) and Colton Jennings (one hit) each drove in a run for the Aggies.
2023 All-County Baseball Team
Dalton Johnson, Hanceville
Michael Foust, Vinemont
John Martin, Holly Pond
Ayden Black, Good Hope
Brodee Bartlett, Cold Springs
Nic Gregory, Fairview
Crimson Wright, Fairview
Brody Freeman, West Point
JD Cochran, West Point
Sylar Philyaw, West Point
West Point 9 – Good Hope 3 (Semifinals)
After a scoreless first inning, West Point got in the run column in the bottom of the second. Charlie Ashley reached on an infield single to lead off the inning, then Sylar Philyaw drew a walk. One out later, Boston Freeman lined an RBI double to left field to give them the early lead, then Kanaan Sutter followed that up with an RBI single to make it 2-0. Andrew Putman added a sacrifice fly on the first pitch he saw as the Warriors pushed their lead to 3-0.
Good Hope countered in the top of the third. Colten Whatley reached on an infield single, then Carter Naramore drew a one-out walk. After Sutter struck out Caden Drake, Russell Wooten reached on catcher’s interference to load the bases for Eli Clements, who lined a bases-clearing triple to left field to tie the game up at three. The Warriors was the team that ended up breaking the tie in the bottom of the fifth. An error and a single had West Point in business early, then Brody Freeman scored on a passed ball to give them a 4-3 lead. They loaded the bases with one out, then Jay Lamar drew a bases-loaded walk to force home a run as West Point now had a 5-3 lead.
The Warriors broke the game wide open in their next at-bats. Andrew Putman drew a leadoff walk, then after Putman stole second, Brody Freeman reached on an infield single, putting runners on the corners. Putman scored on a Good Hope error to push their lead to 6-3. Back-to-back hit batters loaded the bases once again, then Philyaw brought home Freeman on an RBI infield single to make it 7-3. Lamar and Boston Freeman drew consecutive walks with the bases loaded as their lead was now at six at 9-3. Philyaw retired Good Hope in order in the top of the seventh to end the game as the Warriors moved on to the championship game with a 9-3 win over the Raiders.
Boston Freeman finished with a hit and two RBIs for West Point. Lamar collected a pair of RBIs in the contest. Philyaw added a pair of hits and an RBI. Sutter posted a hit and an RBI as well. Putman added an RBI. Ashley ended up finishing with three hits, while Brody Freeman, J.D. Cochran, and Colton McCoy each chipped in with a hit of their own. Sutter went five innings, gave up two earned runs, walked four and struck out eight. Cochran and Philyaw each pitched a scoreless inning for the Warriors.
For Good Hope, Clements finished with a hit and three RBIs. Ayden Black added a pair of hits, while Whatley and Dakota Overton each collected a hit in the contest as well.
Fairview 12 – Cold Springs 2 (Semifinals)
Fairview struck first in their opening at-bats. Crimson Wright hit a leadoff single, then stole second and ended up scoring on a Cold Springs error to give the Aggies the early lead. Lucas West got hit by the pitch, then with one out, Gannon Black hit a two-run double to left field as that made it 3-0. Fairview added to their lead in the second. Caden Jennings hit a leadoff single, stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Devyn Ellis. Wright drove him in on an RBI groundout to give Fairview a 4-0 lead.
Cold Springs pushed across a run in the top of the third inning. Brodee Bartlett hit a one-out single and later scored on a Fairview error to trim the deficit to three at 4-1. The Aggies answered right back in their half. Connor Scott hit a one-out single and Carson Jones drove him in with an RBI single to stretch their lead to 5-1. Jones stole third and ended up scoring on a sacrifice fly by Caden Jennings to make it a 6-1 game. The Eagles got something going with two outs in the top of the fifth inning as Bartlett reached on an infield single, then Josh Winfrey punched an RBI double to left field to cut it to 6-2.
Fairview broke the game wide open in their half as Colton Jennings hit a two-run single to left field, then after a hit by pitch, Nicolas Gregory added a two-run double to center field to push their lead to 10-2. The Aggies ended things in the bottom of the sixth as Black and Daniel Hostetler scored on an Eagle error to give them the 12-2 win over Cold Springs. Fairview will face off against West Point for the championship.
Jones finished with two hits and three RBIs for Fairview. Gregory (two hits), Black (one hit), and Caden Jennings (one hit) each added a pair of RBIs in the game. Wright and Colton Jennings each posted a hit and an RBI as well, while Scott chipped in with a pair of hits of his own. For Cold Springs, Winfrey finished with a pair of hits and an RBI. Bartlett added a pair of hits, while Cole Bales, Cody Smith, and Matt Williams each collected a hit as well.
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