Elimination round

By Staff
No. 5 Ranburne edges No. 8 PC 5-3 in Game 3
Kim West
k.west@fct.wpengine.com
RANBURNE – No. 8 Phil Campbell capped another deep playoff run with a disappointing 5-3 loss to No. 5 Ranburne Saturday in the deciding Game 3 of the Class 2A quarterfinals.
Phil Campbell (25-13) forced a third game by beating the Bulldogs, who have reached the quarterfinals the past four years, 5-3 in Game 2 after losing the series opener 6-1 Friday.
Ranburne (21-5), the Area 9 champions since 2004, will play sixth-ranked Mars Hill, the Area 16 winner, in the semifinals May 9-10.
"There are only four teams left in the North, and we're proud to be one of them, but our goal was to be state champs," said Phil Campbell second baseman Stephen Lacey, who pitched the Game 2 victory and has played in 14 playoff series during his high school career, along with fellow seniors Tate Canida, Jonathan Dill and Caleb Thompson.
"We started this season slow and then we came along and stepped it up at the end of the year, but we handed Ranburne this series. All in all it's been a good season and it's been great playing with the other seniors because we're all so close and we've been through so much together."
The Bobcats jumped on Ranburne starter Kip Cash, who earned the victory, in the bottom of the first as Lacey, who went 2-for-3, and Dill hit back-to-back singles and Thompson drove them in with a one-out single to put Phil Campbell ahead 2-0.
But Ranburne responded with a five-run second inning as the Bulldogs scored three runs on two walks and a hit batsman. After Tyler Pollard drew a bases-loaded walk to score Cash, Cody Skinner scored on a fielder's choice, Cody Loveless drove in Pollard and Drew Cofield walked in Daniel Chambers to take a 4-2 lead.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Thompson came on in relief for Adam Mitchell, who took the loss, and Dillan Hamby. After hitting the first batter he faced and forcing in the fifth run, Thompson, who pitched 5 1/3 innings of relief with no earned runs, settled in and forced Ty Runels to ground out to Dill at shortstop.
In the third inning, Phil Campbell cut the gap to 5-3 as Thompson, who went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a steal, hit an RBI double to the centerfield wall to bring around Dill, who went 1-for-1 with two runs scored and a steal.
The Bobcats rallied in the fifth with Korey Pounders at third and Dill at second with two outs but Cash got a lineout and groundout to end the threat.
Skinner and Loveless each went 3-for-4 for Ranburne, which finished with eight hits, while Phil Campbell had six hits.