RHS baseball gets wins over Boaz, continues season

The Russellville Golden Tigers pulled through their weekend series against Boaz with two wins in the opening round of the high school baseball playoffs.

The Friday matchup saw Russellville’s offense flex its muscles in game one as the Golden Tigers stretched out to a 10-9 win after see-sawing through six lead changes through five innings.

But the Russellville’s bats stayed hot into the fifth inning when Colin Garrison put the Golden Tigers up for good with a two-run single, bringing in Austin Kitterman and John Pierce.

Golden Tigers pitcher, Skyler Stephens, got the win after coming in and giving up three runs and four hits in a third of an inning’s work. Russellville’s closer, Bailey Thompson, racked up six outs on his way to getting the save.

Three runs in the sixth saw Boaz make a late surge to try and even the score, but the Golden Tigers’ pitching and defense finally stopped the bleeding and held off Boaz.

The late game on Friday saw the two teams play a different game as offense took a back seat to some solid pitching.

Russellville’s Landon Oliver scored after a hit by a pitch in the seventh inning after another back-and-forth contest between the two teams saw five lead changes. Oliver’s run put the Golden Tigers up for good, leading to a 3-2 win in game two and a series win for RHS.

Golden Tiger starting pitcher and Shelton State signee, Jacob Green, dominated the Boaz Pirates over the course of his five-inning outing. Green struck out nine batters and only allowed one earned run on two hits. Green surrendered five walks. Bailey Thompson came in for the Golden Tigers and pitched two shutout innings surrendering no walks and no hits behind four strikeouts.

The Russellville Golden Tigers travel to Attalla, Ala. to face Etowah High School in the second round on April 24 at 5 p.m.