Prep Baseball Report

Alabama Daily Roundup: April 13th


PBR Alabama Staff

7A No. 1 Hewitt-Trussville (9) vs. 7A No. 4 Vestavia Hills (1)

VESTAVIA, AL - Tuesday opened up the second week for area games in Class 7A, and this one had the looks to be an excellent matchup between two Top-5 teams in our Class 7A Poll. Hewitt-Trussville opened up area play last week with a clean sweep of Gadsden City, while Vestavia Hill split a two game series with No. 10 Spain Park. With the Huskies sitting at the top of the 7A Area 6 Standings, the No. 1 team in the state certainly looked the part in all facets of the game. It was a battle of the aces, as RHP Riley Quick (2022) toed the rubber for Hewitt-Trussville and RHP Grant Cherry (2021, Tennessee) took the ball for the Rebels.

The Huskies did an excellent job of laying off pitches in the first two innings to put themselves into prime position to score. With runners on 2nd and 3rd after a pair of walks, OF Jack Ollis (2023) turned around an 89 mph heater and served it into right field for a RBI sacrifice fly out to give Hewitt a 1-0 lead. Another run came home to score on a wild pitch, giving the Huskies a 2-0 lead after two innings.

Hewitt-Trussville put up another crooked number on the scoreboard in the 3rd on timely and situational hitting. The Huskies loaded the bases one three straight walks with no outs, and they took advantage of a big opportunity to essentially put the game away early based on how Quick was pitching. 1B Jackson Holland (2021) and RHP Riley Quick (2022) added a RBI in their own efforts, but the swing came from 2B Kurt Kizer (2023) who doubled just over the 3rd base bag to bring home two more runners. After three innings, Hewitt-Trussville had a commanding 6-0 lead.

OF Jack Ollis (2023) continued his impressive night at the plate for the Huskies in the 5th. The leadoff hitter reached on a hit-by-pitch, but two straight outs made it look like the Rebels would escape unscathed. Ollis stepped up to the plate, however, and drove home his second run of the game on a hard-hit single to left field, pushing the lead to 7-0 after five innings. Meanwhile on the other side, RHP Riley Quick (2022) was extremely efficient while only facing two over the minimum through five innings. He reached 92 mph with his fastball and ended up going the distance to get the win.

IF Ethan Duhon (2022) and C Matt Miller (2022) combined to drive home two more runs in the 6th on a single and a RBI sacrifice fly out, respectively. This pushed the lead to 9-0, but the Rebels would soon get on the scoreboard in the bottom half. SS Grayson Dobbins (2021) kicked things off with a leadoff single the other way, allowing the top of the lineup to do damage. OF Pierce Hanna (2022) followed up Dobbins with a RBI double to left field that drove home Dobbins after he stole 2nd base. This cut the lead to 9-1, and would end up being the final score after a scoreless 7th inning.


Top Performers - Hewitt-Trussville

Riley Quick - W, 7 IP, 5 H, R, 0 BB & 9 K’s; 1-3, RBI, BB

Kurt Kizer - 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI’s

Jack Ollis - 1-3, 2 RBI’s

Ethan Duhon - 1-2, RBI, R, 2 BB’s

Hudson Boren - 1-3, 2B, 2 R’s, BB


Top Performers - Vestavia Hills

Pierce Hanna - 1-3, 2B, RBI

Charlie Hughes - 2-3

Grayson Dobbins - 1-3, R, SB

 

 

7A Hoover (4) vs. 7A No. 7 Oak Mountain (3)

HOOVER, AL - Another huge area matchup in Class 7A took place just across the city in Birmingham with Hoover hosting No. 7 Oak Mountain in Game 1 of the series. Hoover opened up Area 5 play with a split in the first two games against Tuscaloosa County, but won the tiebreaker in Game 3 last week. Oak Mountain split with Thompson in the first two games, but also won the tiebreaker game in Game 3 as well. Hoover handed the ball to an underclassmen in RHP Brewer Smith (2023), and Oak Mountain turned to RHP Connor Adams (2021, Birmingham Southern) as both teams tried to take a lead in the Area 5 Standings.

The Eagles quickly put up a run in the 1st inning to get things started. 2B Andrew Hunt (2022) blasted a two strike pitch to the deepest part of the field in the center field for a solo home run, giving Oak Mountain a 1-0 lead after 1 inning of play. 

Both teams went 1-2-3 in the 2nd inning, but the Eagles added another run in the 2nd inning on another hit from the top of the lineup. After an error on the shortstop and sacrifice bunt to advance the runner to 2nd base, 3B Davis Gillespie (2022, Southern Miss) continued his torrid pace at the plate driving a two strike pitch to center field for a RBI single to extend the Eagles’ lead to 2-0 heading to the 4th inning.

Both pitchers had settled in after that point, but the Bucs cut the deficit in half in the 4th inning. After two singles from the bottom of the lineup, OF Alex Wilson (2021, Central Alabama CC) chopped the first pitch he saw just over the glove of the leaping 3rd baseman for a RBI single. This cut the lead to 2-1, but a strikeout and a pop out quickly ended the Hoover threat in the 4th.

Oak Mountain continued to play small ball when they got the leadoff hitter on base to manufacture runs. After a leadoff walk, sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch pushed the runner to 3rd base, 3B Davis Gillespie (2022, Southern Miss) smoked a pitch back up the middle for a RBI single to push the lead back to 3-1 in the 5th. 

Both teams went down quietly in the 6th inning, which set the stage for the 7th inning. In the top half, the Eagles went down scoreless and brought the Bucs to the plate down to their last three outs and on pace to fall to 1-2 in area play. Hoover had other plans, as a rally ignited against the reliever in the bottom of the 7th. 2B RJ Hamilton (2023, Vanderbilt) kicked things off with a big leadoff walk and he represented the tying run in the contest. Hamilton swiped 2nd base and advanced to 3rd base on a throwing error by the catcher. OF Sean Agsalud (2021) brought home Hamilton on the next pitch via a perfectly placed RBI infield single down the 3rd base line to cut the lead to 3-2. After the next hitter popped out in foul ground, DH Carter Short (2021) stepped up to the plate representing the winning run with the tying run still at 1st base. Wasting no time, Short jumped all over the first pitch he saw in the at-bat, and crushed a hanging breaking ball over the right field wall for a walk-off, two run home run to give the Bucs a huge 4-3 win. Hoover improved to 17-17 on the year and 2-1 in 7A Area 5 play.

 

Top Performers - Hoover

Carter Short - 1-4, HR, 2 RBI’s, R

Sean Agsalud - 2-4, RBI, R

Brewer Smith - 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R (1 ER), 3 BB & a K

Alex Wilson - 1-2, RBI, BB, SB


Top Performers - Oak Mountain

Davis Gillespie - 2-4, 2 RBI’s 

Andrew Hunt - 1-3, HR, RBI, R

Connor Adams - 4 IP, 4 H, R, 3 BB & 7 K’s


 

6A No. 5 Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (13) vs. 6A Paul Bryant (1)

TUSCALOOSA, AL - The Hillcrest Patriots scored often and early Tuesday afternoon on Senior Night as they took down the visiting Paul W Bryant Stampede 13-1 in a 6A Area 7 matchup. The #5 team in 6A used a 7 run first inning, as well as a 4 run second, and 5 innings of 2 hit baseball from their pitching staff to their advantage. 

In the top of the first inning, the Paul Bryant Stampede showed flashes of hope, as they used singles from David Grant (2022) and Torrien Howard (2021) as well as a walk from Jared Gibson Jr. (2022) to score first. That lead wouldn’t last long though as walks and hit batsmen plagued the Stampede. 3 walks, 2 hit batters, singles from Tyler Johnson (2021) and John Cade Tunnell (2021), and a double from Pearson Pate (2021) would lead the Pats to a 7-1 lead after 1 inning. 

The second inning was quick work for Patriots starter Payte Williams (2021) who would strike out the side and finish his outing with 5 K’s. The bottom half of the inning was more run support from Williams, as the Patriots would tack on 4 more, behind singles from Clay Smelley (2021) and Braedon Brown (2021), 2 batters reaching on error, as well as a 3 run double from Christian Colburn (2021), and a sacrifice fly from Johnson.

Not much brewed for either squad offensively in the 3rd, as Pate would enter the game for Hillcrest and would navigate the next 7 Stampede batters, securing 6 outs, 4 of which were by way of the strikeout. Titus Lagunes (2022) would work his way around the Patriots offense and strike out 2 in the 3rd. 

In the bottom of the 4th, the Patriots emptied the bench, using several pinch hitters, as they would tack on 2 more with help from an Austin Evans (2022) single, and a Jordan Redmond (2022) 2-run single up the middle. Evans would enter the game in what would be the last frame in a 12 run ballgame, striking out his first 2 batters, before hitting a 3rd. Hillcrest would come to the mound to make one last pitching change and enter senior Caleb Robbins (2021) , who after an infield single by Gibson would strike out the last batter in a fitting end for the Patriots on Senior Night.

 

Top Performers - Hillcrest

Pearson Pate 2 IP, 4 K, 0 H, 0 R, 1-2, 2B, 3 RBI, R, 

Payte Williams 2 IP, 5 K, 2 H, 1 R, 0-1, 2 R

Christian Colburn 1-2, 2B, RBI, 2R


Top Performers - Paul Bryant 

David Grant 1-2, 1B, HBP, R

Jared Gibson Jr. 1-1, 1B, BB, HBP

Torrien Howard 1-2, 1B, RBI

 

 

6A Wetumpka (8) vs. 6A Stanhope Elmore (2)

MILLBROOK, AL - LHP Dawson Fuller (2022) got the start for the Indians in Game 1 of the 6A Area 5 championship series. LHP Colin Woodham (2023) started on the mound for the Mustangs going 4 innings allowing 9 H’s, 6 ER’s while striking out two. Pitching against a balanced lineup of the Mustangs, Fuller tossed 6 1/3 innings allowing 4 H’s, 2, ER’s and striking out six. The junior LHP worked the fastball low in the zone while showing solid command with his breaking ball to keep the Mustang hitters off balance. Fuller was credited with the victory for Wetumpka. 

Getting the game started in the first inning, Kyle Morrison (2022) doubled to LF in a lefty vs. lefty matchup. Morrison showed true patience at the plate as he trusted his bat in a hitter's count to attack the fastball. One of the top uncommitted hitters in the ’22 class, Noah Jones (2022) hammered a two-out double to LF to follow up a single earlier in the inning. Jones using his speed to come around and score for the Indians to give them a 3-0 lead in the third. Back up in the 4th, Morrison again delivered as he cleared the bases with a triple to extend the Indians lead to 5-0. Later in the 6th inning, Morrison would add a solo HR to give the Indians some insurance late in the game. The Mustangs offense pushed across a run with a triple from Woodham in the 4th, then later scored on a fielders choice off the bat of Zach Stevens (2023). 

In relief of Woodham in the 5th, Colton Walls (2023) came in and struck out two in the fifth to keep the Mustangs within striking distance but Doug Johnson (2022) later drove in two runs on a basehit for the Indians.

Cody Simmons (2021), Connor Gregg (2022), Chase Eddings (2021), and Woodham each collected one hit for the Mustangs.

 

Top Performers - Wetumpka

Dawson Fuller - 6 1/3 IP, 4 hits, 2 BB, 2 ER, 8 K 

Doug Johnson - 2/3 IP, K; 2-4, 2 RBI

Kyle Morrison - 3-4, HR, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI

Ty Brooks - 2-3, 1 run, 1 RBI

Noah Jones - 1-4, 1 2B, 1 run

Lamaris Jackson 1-2, 3B, 1 run

Jackson Ray - 2-3, 1 run, 1 RBI

Garrett Terrell - 2-4, 1 run, 1 2B

 

Top Performers - Stanhope Elmore

Colin Woodham - 1-2, 3B, 1 run

Colton Walls - 3 IP, 3 hits , 1 ER, 5 K 

Connor Gregg 1-2, RBI, 2B

Cody Simmons - 1-3

Chase Eddings - 1-3, 1 run

 

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