PC rolls past Marion County

By Staff
Scot Beard
PHIL CAMPBELL – Phil Campbell wasted little time in gaining the lead against Marion County as the Bobcats knocked off the Red Raiders 12-2 in five innings Thursday.
After Bailey Welborn retired the first three Marion County batters to open the game, Jordan Benford and Jake Dill got the Phil Campbell offense rolling in the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles.
Benford stole a base and scored on a sacrifice by Adam Mitchell and Dill scored on a single by Isaac Michaels. Michaels and Seth Brown, who reached base after a pitch struck him in the back, both scored on a double by Ben Stancil to give the Bobcats a 4-0 lead.
They added to the lead in the second by scoring five runs on five hits.
After the second, Phil Campbell coach Alf Welborn sat many of the starters to give the bench some quality playing time.
"All in all, this is one of the youngest team I've put on the field," Welborn said. "We only have two seniors and we needed to get the young guys as much varsity action as possible."
Bailey Welborn was perfect through 21/3 innings, but Marion County finally had two runners reach base on a pair of errors in the third. Both runners came around to score on a double.
The Phil Campbell offense was quite in the third and fourth innings, but scored three times in the fifth to put the game away.
Benford, Mitchell and Michaels each hit a pair of singles to lead the Phil Campbell offense. Brown and Stancil each doubled and Dill and Cameron Harris each singled for the Bobcats.
Bailey Welborn pitched five innings, allowing five hits and striking out seven.
With the win, Phil Campbell improves to 9-9 overall. The Bobcats are 2-2 in area action and will play a crucial area series against Cherokee Monday and Tuesday.
"This is a big series against Cherokee," Alf Welborn said. "We can't afford another area loss."