CULLMAN, Ala. — Three local teams hit the road for the start of this year’s state playoffs Thursday night and two of them were knocked out of the postseason field with a pair of losses. Hanceville dropped both of its opening round matchups at Brooks to finish the season 14-10 and Holly Pond fell in a pair of games at North Sand Mountain to wrap up an 8-18 season, but Addison was able to return home with a series win over Covenant Christian to secure a spot in round two. Fairview and Vinemont will travel to begin their first-round matchups Friday.
Addison 13 – Covenant Christian 2 (Game One)
Eli Roberts led off the top of the first with a single up the middle and Tucker Thompson reached on an error to give the Bulldogs a pair of runners. Back to back singles from Conner Lane and Stone Talley drove in a pair of runs to make it a 2-0 game and Lane scored on a double steal later in the inning to put Addison in front 3-0.
Back to back singles from Cole Thompson and Owen Pratt put the Bulldogs ahead 4-0 in the second and an RBI single off the bat of Kiah Lake stretched the lead to 5-0 in the third. An RBI single from Tucker Thompson gave Addison a 6-0 lead in the fourth and the Bulldogs continued adding to their lead in the fifth. Another RBI single from Lake made it 7-0 and Pratt was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it an 8-0 game later in the inning.
Covenant Christian was able to get a pair of runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth, but Addison responded with RBI singles from Kaden Dyson and Lake in the top half of the sixth to keep the Bulldogs in front 10-2. Lake scored on an Eagles balk later in the inning and Addison went into the final frame leading 11-2.
An RBI single from Talley and an error gave the Bulldogs two more runs in the top of the seventh and they retired the Eagles in order in the bottom of the seventh to cap a 13-2 win.
Addison racked up 18 hits in the win. Talley posted four hits and two RBIs. Lake (three RBIs) and Cole Thompson each finished with three hits and Pratt (two RBIs), Tucker Thompson (one RBI) and Dyson each added a pair of hits.
Tucker Thompson earned the win on the mound after allowing just one earned run on seven hits and striking out three batters in five innings of work.
Addison 3 – Covenant Christian 0 (Game Two)
After a scoreless first inning, Addison got on the board in the bottom of the second when the Bulldogs loaded the bases and Kaden Dyson scored on a passed ball to take a 1-0 lead. Addison added to its lead in the third when Conner Lane scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0. Dyson led off the fourth with a double into center field and he came around to score on an error a few pitches later to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead going into the fifth.
After a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, Addison collected the final three outs in the top of the seventh to secure a 3-0 win and punch its ticket to round two.
Lane, Dyson and Stone Talley each posted a hit in the win. Talley was dominant on the mound, allowing just one hit and striking out four batters in seven innings pitched.
The Bulldogs will advance to play Coosa Christian or Hubbertville next week.
Brooks 4 – Hanceville 0 (Game One)
Hanceville got a two-out double from Nelson Arteaga in their opening at-bats but couldn’t get anything going the rest of the inning. Bulldog starter Gabriel Ognilla got out of an early one-out jam by getting a line out and a ground out. The score remained scoreless going into the third inning. The Lions put a pair of runners on base in their half of the third and took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly. Brooks added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. A two-out RBI triple, followed by an RBI groundout, stretched their lead to 3-0.
The Lions collected another run on a groundout to make it 4-0 in the sixth. Hanceville looked for a late rally in the top of the seventh. Luke Brown reached on a dropped third strike with two outs, but a strikeout ended the game, and the Bulldogs ended up dropping game one to Brooks, 4-0.
Arteaga posted the only hit for Hanceville in the loss.
Brooks 12 – Hanceville 2 (Game Two)
Brooks quickly put runners on the corners to start out Game 2, but Nelson Arteaga picked off the runner at home for the first out. The next batter lined into a double play, as Arteaga got out of the early jam without giving up a run. The Bulldogs gave him some early run support in their half. Arteaga drew a two-out walk, then Black lined a single to right field. Four pitches later, Dylan Lazarro, the pinch runner for Arteaga, scored on an error to give them a 1-0 lead. On the first pitch, Brown hit an RBI single to make it 2-0.
The Lions countered in the top of the second. A two-run double tied the game up at two, and they scored another run later that inning to take a 3-2 lead. Brooks added an RBI single and a two-run double in the third to push their lead to 6-2. The Lions broke the game wide open in the fifth, scoring six runs to take a 12-2 lead. The deficit proved to be too much for Hanceville in the end, as their season ended with a 12-2 loss in game two to Brooks.
Brown finished with a hit and an RBI for Hanceville (14-10). Black added a pair of hits and Jake Cornelius collected a hit in the loss.
North Sand Mountain 10 – Holly Pond 0 (Game One)
The Broncos had a tough time getting their bats going against the Bison Thursday night. Sawyer Olinger led off the top of the first with a single to left field and Peyton Queen added a single in the top of the second but those were the only runners Holly Pond was able to get on base in the first five innings. Carson Ryan drove a single into center field later in the sixth but by then the Bison were up 9-0 and they tacked on one more run in the sixth to cap a 10-0 win over the Broncos in game one.
Olinger, Queen and Ryan finished with the only hits of the game for Holly Pond.
North Sand Mountain 7 – Holly Pond 3 (Game Two)
Singles from Peyton Queen and Boston Gibbs gave the Broncos a pair of runners in the first and second inning, but they couldn’t bring them around to score and North Sand Mountain pulled ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the second. Holly Pond answered in the top of third, cutting the lead to 2-1 when Queen drove in Carson Ryan with a single to left field.
The Bison stretched their lead to 3-1 in the top of the fourth, but the Broncos were able to tie it up in the bottom half of the inning. Bradley Butts laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Kollin Brown, trimming the lead to 3-2 and Gibbs scored on a passed ball a few pitches later to tie things up at 3 going into the fifth.
However, North Sand Mountain pushed a run across the plate in the top of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead and the Broncos were unable to answer in their half of the inning. The Bison tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh to extend their lead to 7-3 and Holly Pond was unable to answer the big inning, falling to the Bison 7-3 in game two.
Queen (one RBI) and Ryan each finished with a pair of hits in the loss. Butts posted a hit and an RBI and Gibbs recorded a hit for Holly Pond as well.
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