RHS baseball meets trouble on diamond
By Brannon King / For the FCT
Russellville 5, Haleyville 3
After starting the season earlier in the week with a couple of victories Feb. 19, the Golden Tigers continued their winning ways on the road Feb. 22 against the Lions.
Caden Parker got the start on the mound and pitched four scoreless innings to get the win. The right-hander struck out seven and gave up only three hits in his first start. Jaret Ward came on to work the final three innings and allowed a hit and an earned run.
Russellville got on the board first with a run in the top of the third inning. Then, in the fifth frame, the Golden Tigers poured on four more runs before Haleyville managed to plate two in the bottom half of the inning and another run in the seventh.
Rudy Fernandez went two for three with the bat for RHS to lead the way. He also added two stolen bases, a walk, a run scored and an RBI to the cause. Fernandez and Landon Ezzell both had doubles for Russellville.
Ezzell, Tom Barkley Scott and Jeff Lloyd also had RBI for the Golden Tigers. Devin Buckhalter, Brock Malone and Noah Gist all joined the group of players that hit safely, and Colten Madden reached base twice via walks.
“Once again, I’m very impressed with our pitching,” Russellville head coach Chris Heaps said after the game. “Parker did a great job and he kept it at 0 for them. Jaret Ward came in, and if we make the plays right there, they probably don’t score until maybe that last inning. Our defense has been really good. I was impressed with a few at-bats tonight. We had some guys that really competed and did pretty good.”
Madison Academy 7, Russellville 3
The defending three-time 5A state champion Golden Tigers returned home Feb. 23 in the first of three games on the evening, with Madison Academy taking on Corner in game two and RHS then facing Corner in the final game of the night.
The Mustangs pounded out 11 hits in the game and jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Russellville tried for a comeback by scoring twice in the bottom half of the second inning. Madison Academy answered with two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to pull away for good.
Ezzell and Buckhalter led the way at the plate for RHS with two hits apiece. Buckhalter picked up an RBI and a stolen base, while Ezzell was joined by Houston Kitterman as players with a double in the game. Kitterman added the second RBI for RHS and Gist, Malone and Scott also had hits.
Scott was the starter on the mound for Russellville. The senior threw four innings and gave up two earned runs and seven hits while striking out four. Colten Madden came on in relief and pitched the final three innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits.
Corner 7, Russellville 0
The Corner Yellow Jackets and a heavy rain were too much for Russellville to handle in the final game of the night.
Coming off a thrilling late rally to defeat Madison Academy in the game before, the Yellow Jackets routed the Golden Tigers in a game that was called after four full innings of play as the rain was too heavy for the teams to finish the game. At such a late hour, a rain delay was not an option.
Russellville (3-2) struggled with the bats and the gloves in the loss. The Golden Tigers struck out for six of their 12 outs in the game and committed four errors in the field.
Fernandez pitched three innings in the loss and gave up seven runs – only three earned. He allowed three hits before Houston Kitterman came on and pitched the final inning. Kitterman struck out all three batters he faced, and he allowed no hits.
Golden Tigers who had hits in the game included Noah Gist and Jeff Lloyd. Kitterman reached on a walk, and Lloyd’s hit was a double.
