Golden Tigers go 1-2 in tough week of games
Photo by Brannon King
By Brannon King for the FCT
Austin 8, Russellville 2
The Russellville Golden Tigers took on the Austin Black Bears in Decatur March 9 and jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the lead didn’t hold up.
Austin scored all eight of their runs in the bottom of the first inning and held on for the win despite being outhit in the game, 9-7.
Jaret Ward and Colin Garrison struggled to get through the first inning for RHS. Rudy Fernandez pitched the final 5 1/3 innings for Russellville and gave up no runs, allowing only two hits, and he struck out seven batters.
Judd Ward, Skylar Holland and Garrison all had two hits to lead the Golden Tigers. Noah Gist, Cody Greenhill and Russ Carpenter had one hit each. Gist had a double for Russellville’s only extra-base hit in the contest. Landon Ezzell and Greenhill accounted for the two Russellville RBIs.
Russellville 1, Helena 0
Chad Wray pitched a masterful game as the Golden Tigers defeated a strong 6A Helena Huskies team March 10 in Hartselle. The senior right-hander and University of South Alabama signee pitched a complete game shutout on 100 pitches. Wray struck out eight, did not walk a batter and allowed six hits for the win.
Russellville scored the lone run of the game in the top of the fourth inning off Troy Cordrey, who gave up six hits in the game as well. He struck out six and walked two batters. Russ Carpenter led RHS with two hits in the game and was helped out by Judd Ward, Gist, Greenhill, Holland and Fernandez, who all had one hit each. Carpenter had the only RBI in the game for Russellville on a single that scored Fernandez.
Helena threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Huskies got the potential tying run on second base with only one out. Wray then calmly got the next two outs with the game ending on a fly ball to centerfield, and that was caught by Russellville.
Hartselle 4, Russellville 2
In the second game of the night for Russellville (5-5) in Hartselle March 10, the Golden Tigers lost a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when HHS scored all four of their runs off of starter Cody Greenhill.
The Golden Tigers tried for a rally in the last inning when the first two batters reached on walks but the next two hitters struck out before a Ward single loaded the bases. Wade then fielded a comebacker and made the short toss to first to end the game.
Ward had two hits to lead RHS while Ezzell and Holland each had a double.
“I was proud of how we competed,” Russellville Head Coach Chris Heaps said after the two games Friday night “I thought we played really well. We won 13 out of 14 innings tonight.”
The Russellville coach was pleased with the pitching performances of his two senior right-handers. “Cody pitched very well, and Chad pitched probably the best I’ve seen him pitch. I feel pretty good about how we competed overall.
“If we play like we played tonight, we can win 5A north, I believe.”
