The Alabama Scouting Staff was in out in full force on Saturday of Opening Week of high school baseball in the state of Alabama. State Director David Sharp took a trip to Grissom HS to check out the Tigers against Buckhorn HS. Scouting Director Austin Sharp traveled to Russell County to watch a three game set between Russell County HS, Spanish Fort HS, and Dothan HS. Read up on full game summaries, as well as top performers, from Saturday's action..

 

7A Grissom (1) vs. 7A Buckhorn (0)

The Buckhorn Bucks traveled to Grissom High School on Saturday, February 13 in the Tigers home opener for the 2021 season. Conditions were not ideal whatsoever as temperatures stayed in the mid 30's with wind chills in the mid 20's while a mixture of sleet and drizzle fell at various times during the contest. The Tigers sent senior RHP Will Varmette (Wallace Hanceville signee) to the mound as the Bucks countered with junior RHP Gavin Dodd. Hits and runs were hard to come by on both sides with Grissom finally pushing one across in the botoom of the 7th inning for the 1-0 win.  

Scoring opportunities were few and far between for both teams. Junior OF/RHP Christian Sutphin got Grissom going in the bottom of the 1st with a two out base hit and later stole second base. Chris Lynam then reached on an error before Buckhorn pitcher Gavin Dodd induced a ground ball to get out of the 1st inning. In the 2nd inning, Cannon Raby had a two out single and was followed by a single off the bat of Eli Kelly but once again, Dodd got out of the small jam by getting a pop up for the third out of the inning. The Bucks threatened in the 4th inning as Chase Ambrose drew a 2 out walk which was followed by a single off the bat of Luke Price before Varmette got out of the 4th with a pop fly for the 3rd out. Landon Wissman relieved Varmette for the Tigers in the 5th and walked the first batter he saw but immediately picked him off and then retired the next two hitters he faced. The Tigers sent junior Rynzo Crutcher to the mound in the 6th inning and he showed some impressive stuff. Crutcher gave up a 2 out double to Tyler Zawacki and followed that up by walking Ambrose but ended the threat by striking out the next batter he faced. In the 7th inning Crutcher issued a 1 out walk but recovered and gave his team a chance to win it in the bottom of the 7th. The Tiger rally started with a leadoff walk to Bryson Santiago. Jack Carson then attempted to bunt but Santiago was forced out at second base. After a strikeout Cannon Raby hit a ball to deep right fielder that was ruled an error which allowed Carson to come around to score and give the Tigers the 1-0 victory. Crutcher was credited with the win after two innings of scoreless relief. 

 

Top Performers - Grissom

RHP Will Varmette - 4.0 IP, 2 hits allowed, 0 runs, 1 BB, 5 K's

LHP Rynzo Crutcher - (W) 2.0 IP, 1 hit allowed, 0 runs, 2 BB, 4 K's

OF Christian Sutphin - 2-3, SB

OF Cannon Raby - 1-3

 

Top Performers - Buckhorn

RHP Gavin Dodd - 6 2/3 IP, 4 H's, 1 R (unearned), 1 BB, & 2 K's

OF Tyler Zawacki - 1-3, 2B

1B Luke Price - 1-3

SS Dylan Campbell - 1-3

 

6A No. 4 Russell County (5) vs. 7A No. 7 Dothan (4)

In the first of three games at the brand new artificial turf field at Russell County HS, the Warriors of Russell County HS took on the Wolves of Dothan HS in what turned out to be a closely-contested game between two talented teams. Dothan handed the ball to their workhorse '21 RHP Chase Allsup (No. 6, Auburn signee), who didn't disappoint in his first start of his senior campaign. Russell County countered with '23 RHP JR Kitchens (No. 116), who gave the Warriors everything he had and more. 

In the top of half of the first, the Wolves wasted no time jumping out to an early lead. After singles from '21 SS/RHP Te'Relle George-Mills (Lawson State CC signee) and '23 2B Blake Wynn, '21 1B Jace Dyer (Southern Union CC signee) came through big with a two RBI single to right field that gave Dothan a 2-0 lead after 1/2 inning. The Warriors responded with two of their own runs in the bottom of the inning to tie things up at 2-2.

Both teams traded zeros in the 2nd and 3rd innings, until the Wolves regained the lead at 4-2 with a run in the 4th and 5th innings. RHP Chase Allsup labored a bit throughout his outing with some high-stress pitches, but the stuff he showcased through 6 2/3 IP was fairly electric. He worked 89-91, 94 mph with consistency, and paired it with a tight, late-breaking slider with high spin. 

Heading into to the bottom 7th inning with a 4-2 Dothan lead, the Warriors rallied back with two runs on a ground out fielder's choice & a wild pitch to knot things back up at 4-4. '23 RHP JR Kitchens did an excellent job at keeping the Wolves' offense in check for the majority of the game. He mixed speeds well, using a SL/CH offspeed mix to mess with timing. Both teams couldn't bring across a run in the 8th or 9th inning, until a Russell County baserunner scored from first base on a throwing error from the 3rd baseman to give the Warriors the 5-4 win in their first game of the year.

 

Top Performers - Russell County

3B Jaxon Milam - 3-5, R

RF Wyatt Tharpe - 2-4

RHP JR Kitchens - 9 IP, 6 H's, 4 R's (3 ER's), 0 BB's, & 8 K's

 

Top Performers - Dothan

SS Te'Relle George-Mills - 2-5, R

2B Blake Wynn - 2-3, 2 R's, BB

1B Jace Dyer - 1B, 2 RBI's

 

7A No. 7 Dothan (5) vs. 6A No. 3 Spanish Fort (0)

In the second game of the day at Russell County HS, Dothan and Spanish Fort both got what they wanted out of each of their starters. In the Wolves' second game, '21 RHP Te'Relle George-Mills (Lawson State CC signee) was ultra impressive, and really found his groove in the middle innings. '22 RHP Carter Stanford (No. 10, Alabama recruit) looked sharp, for the most part, in his first outing of the 2021 season. 

Both starters did an excellent job throughout the first three innings of making big pitches to escape some jams. Entering the 4th inning tied 0-0, the Wolves finally broke through offensively with two runs in the top half, with one run coming off the bat of '21 C Ronin Sherman on a double.

Meanwhile, George-Mills seemed to get stronger on the mound as the game progressed. In 5 scoreless innings, he struck out 8 & only allowed 4 hits. He reached 91 mph with his fastball and used his breaking ball effectively to navigate his way through the Toro lineup. Stanford also turned in a solid performance on the mound on Opening Day for the Toros. He reached 90 mph in the first two innings, and struck out seven in 4 1/3 innings of work. 

After trading zeros in the 5th and 6th innings, Dothan added three more insurance runs to extend their lead to 5-0. After a single from '21 1B Jace Dyer (Southern Union CC signee) and a double from '21 DH/RHP Chase Allsup (Auburn signee), '21 CF/QB1 Bauer Sharp (Southeastern Louisiana QB signee) tripled to deep RF to bring home those runners. Bauer would then come home to score on the next batter, as former Future Gamer & '21 3B Matthew Omohundro (No. 103, Central Alabama CC signee) singled through the left side for his third hit of the contest. This proved to be the difference, as the Wolves won Game 2 5-0 and complete Opening Day 1-1 against some talented competition.

 

Top Performers - Dothan

RHP Te'Relle George-Mills - 5 IP, 4 H's, 0 R's, 2 BB's, & 8 K's

1B Jace Dyer - 3-4, 2B, R

DH Chase Allsup - 2-4, 2B, R

CF Bauer Sharp - 3B, 2 RBI's

3B Matthew Omohundro - 3-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB

 

Top Performers - Spanish Fort

RHP Carter Stanford - 4.1 IP, 5 H's, 1 R, 3 BB's, & 7 K's

3B Cole Morton - 1B, BB

CF Pierce Dutton - 1B, HBP

 

6A No. 4 Russell County (20) vs. 6A No. 3 Spanish Fort (2)

The nightcap in at Russell County HS in Seale, AL intrigued because of the starting pitchers, but it was the bats that came alive in Game 3 between Russell County HS and Spanish Fort HS. The Warriors offense came alive in their second game, and won the final game of the day 20-2 to finish 2-0.

Spanish Fort loaded the bases in the top of the 1st on two singles from '22 OF Jackson Ray and '22 3B Cole Morton and a HBP, the Toros scored two runs off an error and a fielder's choice to head to the bottom of the 1st leading 2-0. 

The Warriors erupted for 18 runs in the bottom the first inning, capitalizing on walks and getting timely hits with runners on base. 7 of the 9 Warrior hitters recorded at least one hit in this game, but the player that stood out the most was '23 SS/3B Jaxon Milam (No. 8). In his first at-bat, Milam did an excellent job handling an 88 mph fastball from Alabama signee LHP Brady Garcia on the inner-half of the plate with two strikes and served it up the middle for a two RBI single. Milam wasn't done in the 1st, as he also hit a two RBI double and a RBI single in the same inning. The Warriors also received major offensive contributions from '23 2B Lane Griggs (No. 44), '22 RHP/SS Landon Russell (No. 1, Auburn recruit), and '23 C/OF Colton Wombles (No. 3, Auburn recruit), as all hit for extra bases and had multiple RBI's in the 1st inning. 

Getting the start on the mound for the Warriors was '22 RHP/SS Landon Russell (No. 1, Auburn recruit), and he looked real sharp in his first start of his junior campaign. The right-handed hurler reached 93 mph with his fastball and settled in after a few bumps in the 1st inning. 

 

Top Performers - Russell County

SS Jaxon Milam - 3-4, 2B, 5 RBI's, 2 R's

RHP/SS Landon Russell - 2-4, 2B, 4 RBI's, 2 R's

C Colton Wombles - 2-3, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI's, BB

2B Lane Griggs - 2-5, RBI, 2 R's

3B Bailey Thorne - 1B, RBI, 3 R's, 3 BB's

LF Pierce Edwards - 1B, 3 R's, BB

RF Wyatt Tharpe - 1B, 2 R's, 3 BB's

 

Top Performers - Spanish Fort

RF Jackson Ray - 1-2, R, BB

1B Pierce Hoover - RBI, R

SS Trey Fenderson - RBI

 

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