RHS improve to 17-7
By Brannon King for the FCT
After winning two-straight Class 5A baseball state championships, the Russellville Golden Tigers have found their stride in the 2017 campaign. The Golden Tigers are 17-7 so far this season after going 6-2 over spring break including a 3-1 record at the Gulf Coast Classic in Gulf Shores. The only losses over that stretch came against McGill-Toolen, a highly-ranked Class 7A team by a 1-0 score in extra-innings and a loss at Helena. The Golden Tigers have faced Helena three times this year and RHS has won two against the strong 6A team.
Since a 14-0 win over Lawrence County March 14, the Golden Tigers have won 12 of 14 games to prove they are once again strong contenders to return to Montgomery to try for another state title. The schedule has been demanding for the RHS team that has played only three home games out of 24 contests as of April 3. However, the month of April will see the Golden Tigers playing at home for eight of their remaining 12 scheduled regular-season games.
Russellville 2, McAdory 1
The Golden Tigers continued play in the Gulf Coast Classic on March 28 with a win over the Yellow Jackets. Tom Barkley Scott got the start on the mound and picked up the win by pitching five innings. He gave up the only McAdory run and allowed five hits while striking out three and walking one hitter. Judd Ward came on to pitch the final two innings to get the save. Ward allowed no hits or runs and struck out two batters.
Cody Greenhill had a hit for RHS and collected two RBIs. Colin Garrison, Judd Ward and Skylar Holland also had hits for Russellville. Noah Gist walked and scored a run while Ward was the other Golden Tiger to cross the plate.
Russellville 14, Smith County (Tenn.) 3
The Owls from Carthage, Tenn., were no match for the Golden Tigers as Russellville won their final game in the Gulf Coast Classic March 29.
RHS had 14 runs on 14 hits with Greenhill continuing his hot hitting at the plate with a 3-5 day including two home runs and a double. Greenhill had five RBIs, and he scored two runs to lead the Russellville attack. Brock Malone went 3-4 while Judd Ward, Landon Ezzell, Houston Kitterman and Colten Madden all had two-hit games. Ezzell had two doubles while Madden added one for RHS.
Chad Wray got the win on the mound by pitching five innings. He allowed three runs on five hits and struck out two while walking one batter. Skylar Holland and Sid Willis worked in relief with neither allowing a run.
Russellville 3, Madison Academy 2
Russellville traveled to Arab April 1 and got some revenge against the Mustangs with a win on the neutral-site. Madison Academy swept RHS in a double header early this season but on this day, the Golden Tigers came out on top. Russellville trailed 2-0 going into the sixth inning, when RHS scored two runs to tie the game, and then the Golden Tigers finished off the scoring with a run to break the 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh.
Garrison, Greenhill, Holland and Russ Carpenter all had two hits each for RHS, while Judd Ward, Houston Kitterman and Tom Barkley Scott had one hit apiece. The hits by Carpenter, Scott and Kitterman were of the two-base variety.
Greenhill started the game on the mound and worked two innings, allowing no runs and two hits before Holland took over to work the final five frames for the win.
Russellville 8, Arab 4
The Golden Tigers defeated the Knights in the second game of the day for RHS in Arab April 1. The AHS pitchers had a hard time fooling the Russellville batters as the Golden Tigers had eight hits. Greenhill hit another home run on his way to a 2-3 performance at the plate. Holland (2), Ward (1), Carpenter (1), Jeff Lloyd (1) and Gist (1) also had hits for RHS. Ward, Gist, Carpenter and Holland had extra-base hits.
Wray got the win on the mound for Russellville by pitching 4.2 innings and allowing no runs on only two hits. He struck out eight and walked one batter. Rudy Fernandez and Willis worked the final 2.1 innings to finish off the win.
