Power surge

By Staff
Mike Self FCT Sports Editor
RUSSELLVILLE - Russellville coach Steve Kerby hopes he saw a glimpse of the Golden Tigers' future in Monday's impressive all-around performance by visiting Hartselle.
"They're just a great baseball team," Kerby said after the No. 8 Tigers slugged three home runs and played sparkling defense to back up a sharp outing by Zach Smith en route to beating Russellville 11-1. "Their coaching staff does a great job. They don't make any mistakes, and they capitalize on all of your mistakes, whether they're pitching, fielding or hitting.
"We aspire to reach that level of competition, and this group of guys we've got here now can do that. We're still a very young team. [Hartselle] has a bunch of juniors and seniors. They don't have any ninth-graders out there, and they've only got one 10th-grader. They're just very impressive. Hopefully, that will be us in a couple of years."
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Russellville (12-18, 1-4 Class 5A, Area 16)). The Golden Tigers had won eight of 11 games heading into Monday.
"We got off to a rough start, but the kids have been playing really well lately," Kerby said. "We felt like if we could have gotten into the playoffs, with the area we would have been matched up with…..you never know. I think whoever the runner-up is from our area is going to make some noise."
Hartselle (23-13, 5-0) clinched at least a share of first place in the area. Winning championships is nothing new for the Tigers, who have won six state titles since 1990.
"They've got a lot of tradition," Kerby said.
Seth Watson got Hartselle rolling with a two-run homer off Russellville starter Cory Trapp in the second inning, and Justin Hargett put the game out of reach with a three-run blast in the fourth that made it 8-1.
Hargett added a solo homer in the sixth off reliever Craig Bullion, and both he and Watson finished with four RBIs.
"[The home runs] weren't necessarily bad pitches, but when you're behind in the count you kind of have to groove them," Kerby said. "If you send them in, they'll send them out, if they're good hitters."
Trapp breezed through the first inning, but he ran into two-out trouble against the bottom third of Hartselle's lineup in the second.
With two outs and a runner on first, Watson, the No. 7 hitter, lined a pitch over the fence in center for a 2-0 lead.
Michael Scott then singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a base hit by number nine hitter Alex Thompson.
After Thompson moved to second on a wild pitch and third on a balk, Hunter Brasher walked and stole second.
Trapp avoided further damage by striking out Chris Wiley.
Watson, Scott and Thompson went a combined 6-for-10 with six RBIs and four runs scored.
The Golden Tigers mounted a rally in the bottom of the second when Trapp singled to left and moved to third on Bullion's double off the fence in right-center.
Trapp scored on a squeeze bunt by Chris Swinney to make it 3-1, but the rally fizzled when Bullion was tagged out in a runddown after Swinney stole second.
Hargett led off the third with a double and later scored on an infield hit by Justin Youngblood to make it 4-1.
Russellville threatened to score again in the bottom of the third when Corey Flanagan and Torey Baird delivered back-to-back two-out singles.
Smith escaped the jam by retiring Seth Fergerson on a fly ball to right field.
Hartselle put the game away with four runs in the fourth.
Scott singled, stole second and scored on a hit by Thompson to make it 5-1.
After a single by Chris Wiley, Hargett drove a pitch over the fence in center for an 8-1 lead.
That was plenty of support for Smith, who left after allowing one run on six hits in four innings. He struck out four and walked none.
Steven Chop pitched two scoreless innings of relief.
Hargett hit a solo homer in the sixth, and Watson's two-run double finished off the scoring.
Trapp took the loss, allowing eight runs on 10 hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked three.
Bullion struck out the side in the sixth, allowing three runs on three hits.
Trapp finished 2-for-3 with a double, and Torey Baird also had two hits. Bullion, Swinney and Corey Flanagan each added one hit.
In other recent local action:
Russellville 5 Jemison 2
Seth Fergerson hit his sixth home run of the season, and three Russellville pitchers combined to scatter seven hits as the Golden Tigers won Saturday's second game.
Jacey Wilson earned the win, alloing two runs on three hits in three innings. Cory Trapp pitched three scoreless innings of relief, and Craig Bullion earned the save with a 1-2-3 seventh.
Trapp and Bullion each had an RBI single in a three-run first inning.
Russellville 9 Maplesville 7
Seth Fergerson tied Saturday's opener with a two-run homer in the fourth, and Torey Baird put the Golden Tigers on top with a two-run double in the sixth.
Trey Hooper earned the win, allowing just one run on three hits in 4 1/3 innings of relief.
Maplesville led 6-1 after the top of the second, but the Golden Tigers battled back.
Baird finished 3-for-4, and Caleb Mitchell was 2-for-4 with a double.
Cory Trapp was 1-for-3 with two runs scored.