Split decision

By Staff
Mike Self FCT Sports Editor
RUSSELLVILLE – Randy Cochran homered, doubled and pitched three solid innings of relief on Tuesday as Phil Campbell recovered from a lopsided defeat in game one to beat Russellville 15-7 in the second game of a doubleheader.
Jacob Daniel shut down Phil Campbell in the opener, striking out 11 in a complete game one-hitter as Russellville cruised to an 11-0 win that left the Bobcats anxious for a shot at redemption.
"[Losing that bad] in the first game motivated us to come out and play better in the second game," said Cochran, who went 2-for-3 in the nightcap with four runs scored and three RBIs. "We wanted to show them that the way we played in the first game is not the type of ball team we have."
Phil Campbell coach Michael Beck said the loss in the opener served as a wake-up call for the Bobcats (9-3).
"More than anything, I think it humbled us a little bit," Beck said. "We really didn't seem ready to play in the first game. Some of our guys came over here and molly-potted around, and it showed. [Daniel] did a really good job for them on the mound. He struck out 11, and I think we've got a pretty good hitting team.
"But our guys didn't quit. They could have rolled over and died, but they didn't. You can't do that in baseball. It's a game of streaks, and you have to take the good with the bad. Tonight, the first one was bad and the second one was good. I'll take a split with a 5A [school] any day."
After mustering only one hit in the opener against Daniel, Phil Campbell doubled that total in the first inning of game two against Russellville ace Jacey Wilson.
Kevin Lacey hit a two-out RBI double and then scored on a hit by Steven Lacey to make it 2-0.
Jake Ward beat out an infield hit and later scored on Cory Trapp's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first to cut the lead in half, but Jonathan Dill's RBI single in the top of the second gave Phil Campbell a 3-1 lead.
The Golden Tigers (5-3) surged ahead with three runs in the bottom of the second. Matt Crawford and Patrick Hines each had RBI groundouts, and Caleb Mitchell's RBI double put Russellville on top 4-3.
Daniel, who finished the doubleheader 7-for-7 at the plate, led off the bottom of the third with a triple over the centerfielder's head and then scored on Trapp's grounder to short.
Trailing by two, the Bobcats took advantage of five walks by three different Russellville pitchers to rally for five runs in the top of the fourth.
Russellville trimmed the lead to 8-6 on Daniel's RBI double in the bottom of the fourth, but Cochran turned on an inside fastball and crushed a solo homer to left with two outs in the top of the fifth.
"It felt good," said Cochran, who hadn't homered since his sophomore season. "I had been stepping into the plate too much instead of striding toward the pitcher, and I was getting jammed on pitches inside. We've been working on that a lot lately, and it paid off."
The Bobcats held onto the lead over the next couple of innings, thanks in part to two fine defensive plays by freshman centerfielder Korey Pounders.
With one out and a runner on third in the bottom of the fifth, Pounders caught a shallow fly ball off the bat of Preston Beasley and threw out Josh Harbin at the plate to end the inning.
One inning later, Pounders went into the gap in right-center to make a sensational diving catch on a line drive by Hines.
"I didn't think the ball was catchable," Cochran said. "I thought it was hit a little deeper than it was, but Korey made a great play."
Perhaps buoyed by Pounders' stunning grab, the Bobcats came to the plate in the top of the seventh and put the game away with six runs.
"The little man may have made the play that got us going," Beck said. "I think that catch got us pumped up."
Caleb Thompson had a two-run double in the top of the seventh, and Cochran and Chase White each had an RBI double. Dill added a run-scoring single.
Dill and Thompson each finished with two hits and two RBIs. Kevin Lacey and White both went 1-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs. Tate Canida also drove in a run.
Daniel went 4-for-4 with a double and a triple, capping off his perfect day at the plate. Mitchell and Torey Baird each added two hits for Russellville, and Trapp drove in two runs. Corey Flanagan was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
Cochran relieved starter Steven Lacey to start the bottom of the fourth. He allowed two runs on four hits in three innings, striking out three.
Daniel dominated game one for the Golden Tigers. The sophomore righthander struck out six straight batters at one point, and the only hit he allowed was a fourth-inning single by Kevin Lacey.
"The first couple of innings I was just trying to blow it past them," Daniel said. "I didn't really have a good curveball early on, but once I got it going I tried to mix it up. They have some really good hitters in the first half of their lineup. Down toward the bottom of the order they had some younger guys, and I think they had a little trouble catching up to my fastball."
Hines broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the second with an RBI single, and Phil Campbell then mounted its only serious threat against Daniel in the top of the third.
After striking out the first two hitters to complete his run of six straight, Daniel put the next three men on with a walk and two hit batsmen. With cleanup hitter Kevin Lacey at the plate, Griffin Harris was thrown out at home trying to score on a wild pitch to end the inning.
"Jacob pitched a really good game for us today," Russellville coach David Ward said. "He was throwing pretty hard. If he can keep pitching like that, we'll be in good shape."
The Golden Tigers broke the game open with six straight hits off Dill to open the bottom of the third. Mitchell led off with a triple and scored on a single by Jake Ward, and a two-run single by Baird made it 4-0. Trey Hooper later had an RBI grounder, and another run scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0.
"We started being a little more aggressive with Dill the second time through the order," David Ward said. "He can be tough, because he's always nibbling at the edges of the plate. He'll throw a lot of [off-speed] junk, and then he'll try to sneak a fastball by you."
Russellville ended the game with five runs in the fifth. Hunter Thomas had an RBI triple, and two more runs scored on bases-loaded walks by Ward and Daniel. Trapp's two-run single provided the final margin.
Ward was 2-for-3 in the opener with two runs and two RBIs, and Daniel went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Trapp had two hits and two RBIs, and Flanagan was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.