RHS opens baseball season splitting 2 games
The Russellville Golden Tigers opened the 2026 baseball season with a trip to Mississippi to take on the Itawamba Agricultural Indians and the Saltillo Tigers.
On Feb. 21, RHS started the day of action on the diamond in Fulton, Mississippi, with a 6-2 win over the home team Indians. Then the Golden Tigers fell later that afternoon to Saltillo by a final score of 8-1 in a game also held at IAHS.
Russellville took advantage of five Itawamba errors to defeat the Indians. Head coach Jess Smith’s team scored first in the top half of the second inning and added single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth before tacking on two more runs in the seventh inninig.
The only IAHS runs came during the fifth frame.
Both squads had five hits. Russellville got a double by Tristan Ray and singles from Brayden Hatton, Jackson Smith and Keifer Hallmark. Russellville RBIs were from Brayden Entrekin, Tripp Cleveland, Hatton and Smith, all with one each. The Golden Tigers successfully stole seven bases.
Ty Engelthaler got the start on the mound for RHS and the win. The right-hander went three innings and allowed one hit and no runs. Houston Askew followed with one inning of relief and Johnce Knight pitched the final three frames allowing no runs or hits.
Saltillo improved to 6-0 on the season with its victory over Russellville. The game was scoreless until Saltillo took the lead during the bottom half of the fourth inning scoring a single run. RHS then answered with a run in the fifth before Saltillo plated five in the bottom half of the same inning. The Tigers padded their advantage with two more runs in the sixth.
The Golden Tigers had three hits and Saltillo collected eight. Entrekin had a hit and drove in the RHS run. Bryson Cooper and Ray also had Russellville singles.
Entrekin was the RHS starting pitcher going four innings and allowing two hits and one run. The lefthander struck out six and walked none. Hatton and Caleb Hawkins pitched in relief for the Golden Tigers.
