Golden Tigers notch week of wins
Photo by Brannon King
The Russellville Golden Tigers started their season in a convincing way against the Hamilton Aggies.
By Brannon King for the FCT
Russellville 13, Hamilton 0
After having their scheduled home-opener against Randolph rained out Feb. 28, the Golden Tigers added a game at Hamilton a couple of days later and picked up a convincing win over the Aggies.
It was an all-around solid performance in all phases of the game for RHS. The Golden Tigers smacked 14 hits and held Hamilton to only one single in the six-inning victory.
Skylar Holland got the start on the mound and went four innings, giving up only one hit while striking out four for the win. Rudy Fernandez finished off the Aggies by tossing two innings of scoreless relief and picked up three strikeouts of his own. Neither pitcher walked a Hamilton batter during the game.
Noah Gist, Judd Ward, Cody Greenhill, Russ Carpenter, Holland and Fernandez all had two hits for Russellville. Landon Ezzell added one hit and picked up three RBIs in the game, while Colin Garrison had a walk, hit, one RBI and also scored a run. Brock Malone (2) and Houston Kitterman (1) also had RBIs for RHS.
“This was a confidence builder – getting some guys some reps and some at-bats and some good solid contact,” Russellville Head Coach Chris Heaps said. “We had some guys that had some really good approaches tonight. Noah Gist had some good at-bats, Rudy Fernandez had some good at-bats, and Cody Greenhill had some good at-bats.”
“Holland did a good job. He threw his curveball well,” Heaps said about the performance of his senior right-hander.
Russellville 2, Hueytown 1
The Golden Tigers traveled to Corner March 4 and played the Golden Gophers before taking on Corner later in the day. Cody Greenhill pitched another gem, giving up only one unearned run and five hits over six innings for the win. He picked up six strikeouts while only walking one batter.
Skylar Holland worked the final inning on the mound for the save.
RHS trailed 1-0 going into their final at-bat, when Russ Carpenter came up big with a hit to score pinch-runner Tom Barkley Scott to tie the game. Russellville grabbed the lead later in the inning when a Noah Gist single drove in courtesy runner Jaret Ward.
The two hits and runs in the final inning were the only ones surrendered by Hueytown starting pitcher Dylan Watkins. Logan Boyd went 2-3 for HHS with 1 RBI.
Russellville 7, Corner 5
In a rematch of last season’s Class 5A playoff semifinals, Russellville again defeated the Corner Yellow Jackets on their home diamond.
The Golden Tigers (4-3) finished up a good day by jumping out to a 7-0 lead after only two innings of play. Corner made a late charge, scoring two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings and picking up a single run in the sixth frame.
RHS had eight hits in the game and was led by Cody Greenhill’s two hits and three RBIs. Landon Ezzell had two RBIs, two runs scored, one hit and one walk. Judd Ward, Holland, Carpenter, Scott and Garrison all had hits for RHS. Ward added three stolen bases for RHS in the game.
Chad Wray got the start on the mound and pitched 3.1 innings, giving up two hits and two unearned runs. He struck out five before Rudy Fernandez came on in relief for the win. Skylar Holland worked the final two innings for the save.
