After a washout on the first day for games on Thursday, Mother Nature held off just enough for a big time early season matchup to take place in Oxford, AL. Class 6A No. 7 Oxford HS played host to Class 7A Smiths Station at the beautiful Signature Field at Choccolocco Park. 

Coming into this matchup, both starting pitchers are what made this game so intriguing. Oxford gave the Opening Day start to their workhorse '21 RHP Trey Mooney (No. 65, Montevallo signee), while Smiths Station gave the ball to their seasoned veteran '21 RHP Trent Hodgdon (No. 13, West Virginia signee). Both of these arms were a part of the 2019 version of Team Alabama at the PBR Future Games. 

Game Recap

Both teams threatened in the first two innings of the game, but neither team could get the big hit to drive home the games' first run. Mooney walked around a few walks but escaped both innings unscathed, while Hodgdon surrendered a leadoff single in the 1st inning but stranded him at 2nd. RHP Trent Hodgdon was very impressive in his four innings of work on the mound. His fastball reached 93 mph twice in the 1st inning, but eventually settled into 87-89 mph in his final three frames. After tossing up a zero on the scoreboard in the top of the 3rd, the first two hitters of the Oxford half of the 3rd were set down rather quickly, but the Yellow Jackets found some production at the top of the order to get on the board first.

After a Sam Robertson (No. 6, 2023) HBP and a wild pitch that allowed him to advance to 2nd with two outs, Mississippi State signee & OF Trey Higgins (No. 10, 2021) hit a ground ball to 1st base that would've been routine for any other hitter, but the speed from Higgins allowed him to beat out an infield single. Heads-up base-running from Robertson, who was at 2nd, allowed him to come home to score to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead. 

Both teams would again trade zero's on the scoreboard until the bottom of the 6th inning, where 3B Miguel Mitchell (2022) smoked a fastball to deep RF that was misplayed by the Panther outfielder and allowed Mitchell to reach 3rd with 1 out. With the infield playing in, 1B/LHP Hayes Harrison (No. 57, 2023) singled to RF to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 2-0. A couple more Panther errors and a sacrifice fly from Higgins led to three more runs coming across the score, making it 5-0 Oxford heading to the 7th inning. 

Smiths Station threatened in the top of the 7th inning and scored a run on an error off the bat of 2B Gavin Blair (2021), but stranded runners on the corners to end the game at 5-1. RHP Trey Mooney was able to limit the damage in his final frame and finish the game on his own. He worked 80-82 mph consistently through his outing, but his calling card was the breaking ball that generated some uncomfortable swings/AB's for Panther hitters. He had tons of confidence in the pitch and flipped it in during any count. 

 

Top Performers - Oxford

RHP Trey Mooney - 7 IP, 4 H's, 1 R (0 ER), 6 BB's, & 6 K's

SS Sam Robertson - 1-2, R, HBP

CF Trey Higgins - 2 RBI's

1B Hayes Harrison - 1-3, R, RBI

2B Carter Johnson - 2-3, R, RBI

 

Top Performers - Smiths Station

RHP Trent Hodgdon - 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, & 8 K's

C Luke Hasty - 1-3, BB

RF Caden Hare - 1-2, BB

CF Jason Tharpe - 2-3, 2 1B's

 

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