Knights cruise through first round

By Staff
From staff reports
April 21, 2001
The West Lauderdale Knights swept their Class 3A first-round series with Purvis with a 10-2 win at Purvis Friday night.
West improved to 30-3. The Knights will face the winner of the North Pike-McLaurin series. The second-round series begins next Thursday.
In the win at Purvis, Ryan Clay came in with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the third inning in relief of Brad McKee and only allowed one run. Clay tossed the final five frames to get the win and improve his record to 7-2.
Van Wilson led the Knights at the plate, hitting a pair of home runs and driving in five runs. He finished the night going 3-for-4.
West also got two singles apiece from Clay, McKee, and Richie McAllister.
Purvis ended its year 14-11.
Clarkdale 4, Loyd Star 3: The Bulldogs swept their Class 2A opening-round series with the one-run win at Loyd Star.
Clarkdale, 25-6, got two runs in the top of the fourth inning and tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth frames.
Loyd Star, 14-13, got two runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull to within 3-2 and tallied once in the bottom of the seventh.
Clarkdale outhit the Hornets seven to five.
Matt Minchew had two singles and a solo homer to lead Clarkdale. Andy Thomas had a double, while Brandon Mabry, Jeffery Stokes, and Lance Miles each had a single.
Thomas got the win, going 6 1/3 innings. Minchew got the final two outs to pick up the save.
Clarkdale will face the Lumberton-West Lowndes winner in the second round of the 2A state playoffs which will begin next Thursday.
Chase Coley had a pair of singles to lead Loyd Star. Cass Britt, Adam Speeg, and Seth Britt each had a single.
Britt (5-4) took the loss despite going the distance.
Louisville 12, Cleveland 7: The Wildcats evened their Class 4A series at one win apiece with the five-run victory at Louisville.
The third game is slated for noon today at Cleveland.
Louisville scored in every inning. The Wildcats led 8-0 before Cleveland got five runs in the top of the fifth. Three Louisville errors in the inning led to the rally.
Louisville responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Kentay Eiland had several spectacular plays in the outfield for Louisville.
The win upped Louisville's home record to 11-2 this year.
Louisville outhit Cleveland 12 to nine.
Eiland had a single and a solo homer for Louisville, 18-11. Marquess Ledbetter had three singles and a double. Gabe Snow had two singles and a double. Jared Vaughn added a single and a double. Chris Robinson had a double.
Vaughn (7-3) was the winning pitcher.
Greg White (4-3) took the loss.
Cleveland got a single and a double from Trent Jennings and a pair of singles from Wesley Radicioni.
Philadelphia 4, St. John 3: The Tornadoes completed a sweep of the Eagles in the second game of their Class 2A series at Gulfport.
Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning only to have St. John go up 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth on a three-run homer by Garrett Ryle.
Philadelphia then got three runs in the top of the sixth and held on for the win.
The Eagles had the tying run at third base in the bottom of the seventh.
Hunter Holley (5-1) turned in a complete game to get the win as the Tornadoes improved to 22-7.
Thad Rhodes (7-4) also turned in a complete game for St. John, 13-13.
Dustin Turner had a single and a double for Philadelphia, while William Mars added a pair of singles.
Josh Williams, Tyler Harris, and Mitch Owen each had two singles for St. John.
Union 17, Mize 5: The Yellow Jackets got 19 hits in sweeping their Class 1A first-round series at Mize.
Justin Darby went 3-for-4 with a pair of two-run homers to lead Union, 21-11. B.J. Norton went 3-for-5 with a solo homer. Danny Cain had three hits including a triple. Brooks Vance and Jody Blount both had three hits including a double apiece. Eric Graham added three singles.
Blount (3-2) got the win with 6 1/3 innings of relief of Norton.
Adam McAlpin took the loss. The Bulldogs, 10-15, had five singles with no batter having more than one.
Union will face the St. Aloysius-West Lincoln winner in the second round of the Class 1A state playoffs next week.
Lake 10, Bogue Chitto 0: The defending Class 1A state champion Hornets swept through their first-round series with the Bobcats with the five-inning win at Lake.
Craig Martin (8-0) got the win, striking out eight, while walking two and giving up six hits.
Martin led Lake, 23-6, at the plate wtih a pair of doubles. Brian Williamson had a single and a double. Jake Nester had one hit and scored three runs.
The Hornets will face Mercy Cross in the second round of the Class 1A state playoffs next week.
Barrett Wallace took the loss. The Bobcats had six hits and committed two errors.
Mercy Cross 10, Noxapater 4: Mercy Cross completed its Class 1A sweep of the Tigers at Noxapater.
Mercy Cross broke open a 5-4 game with five runs in the top of the seventh inning.
The Crusaders, 20-5, had seven hits to six for Noxapater which finished 13-9.
Cory Moore had a pair of singles for Noxapater, while Corey Coward added a double.
Moore took the loss, while Richard O'Barr got the win.
Buddy Pellegrino had a single and a homer for the Crusaders.
Regular season baseball
Kemper Academy 12, Wayne Academy 1: Kemper broke open a 2-1 game with four runs in the fourth inning and six more in the fifth as the Rams improved to 11-4.
Ty Harbour, Derek Calvert, and Matthew Johnson each had a single and a triple for Kemper. Adam Davis had a single and a double, while Justin Robertson hit a pair of singles.
Johnson (2-2) was the winning pitcher.
Cory Cochran had two singles and a triple for Wayne.
Fast-pitch softball
Patrician Academy 12-13, Southern Academy 2-0: The Lady Saints took two games Friday at Butler, Ala., to up their record to 15-0 overall and 8-0 in region play.
The sweep clinched the AISA 2A West Region I championship.
Kirby Baxter (12-0) got the win in the opener, striking out four and allowing two hits and a walk in four innings.
Ainsley Bruister had two singles, while Baxter had three singles for Patrician.
Baxter (13-0) also got the win in the second game, allowing no runs and no hits while striking out 12 of the 15 Southern batters. It was Baxter's fourth no-hitter this year.
Baxter had a triple and a homer, while Lesley Goodman and Jina Norton both had a pair of singles.
Patrician plays Marengo Tuesday at 4 p.m.