Red Bay rallies late

By Staff
Mike Self, Franklin County Times
Red Bay rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on Saturday to beat Belmont for the first time in 13 years, earning a 9-7 win.
Derrick Miller hit a grand slam and Morgan Stanfield earned the win in relief for the Tigers (12-3), whose last win over Belmont came in 1994.
"This was a good win for us," Red Bay coach Donnie Hastings said. "We've played a lot of close games with Belmont over the years, but we always seemed to find a way to lose. They've come from behind to beat us several times, so it was nice to finally get a win."
Miller's grand slam in the bottom of the first staked Red Bay to a 4-0 lead, but Belmont battled back to tie the game with four runs in the fourth inning and then took the lead with three more in the fifth.
Cody Armstrong led off the bottom of the sixth with a hit for Red Bay, and Ely Cox followed with a single to right. Armstrong scored on an error by the rightfielder, and Stanfield singled home Cox to make it 7-6.
Stephen Prestage was hit by a pitch and Nicholas Taylor drew a walk to lead the bases, and Stanfield scored the tying run when Dillon Massey reached on a fielder's choice.
Brandon Brown and Armstrong each drew bases-loaded walks to force home two more runs and make it 9-7.
Stanfield (3-1) relieved Armstrong in the top of the fifth and pitched the final 2 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on two hits.
Armstrong finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Cox, Miller, Stanfield and Nathan Hopkins each added one hit.
In other recent action:
Covenant Christian 5 Red Bay 1
Harrison Garner struck out 15 batters in a complete game no-hitter for the Eagles on Saturday.
Red Bay scored its lone run on a fielder's choice in the seventh inning.