RHS boys shut out Lawrence County
By Brannon King / For the FCT
Russellville 15, Lawrence County 0
The Golden Tigers went to Moulton March 13 and proved that they have no plans of giving up their Class 5A, Area 16 crown.
Going into the first area contest of the regular season, Lawrence County had a record of 11-1 and was ranked No. 2 ranked in Class 5A. Russellville took game one against the Red Devils in convincing fashion.
RHS scored in every inning of the five-inning game and was led offensively by Houston Kitterman and Tom Barkley Scott. Kitterman homered twice and had three RBIs. Meanwhile, Scott added a home run and two doubles to the cause on his way to a three-for-four performance with the bat.
Russellville got production at the plate by a number of batters and accumulated 12 hits in the win. Devin Buckhalter had two hits and two stolen bases. He also scored three runs and drove in three more. Other RHS hits came from Noah Gist, Rudy Fernandez, Brock Malone, Caden Parker and Jeff Lloyd.
Landon Ezzell got the start on the mound and continued his early-season dominance. He pitched three innings and allowed only two hits before Jaret Ward came on to finish off the shutout.
Russellville 1, Lawrence County 0
The series between RHS and Lawrence County resumed play Thursday, and pitching was the story for this evening.
Rudy Fernandez threw a complete game shutout and allowed only two hits to keep the Red Devils’ bats silent. The senior right-hander struck out six and walked one to get the win.
“He’s starting to get that swagger back,” Russellville head coach Chris Heaps said of Fernandez. “He did really well, and he pitched lights-out baseball. It didn’t matter who we were facing tonight, they would have had a hard time with Rudy.”
The two teams entered the last inning scoreless when Scott got on base to start things off. Then, Buckhalter moved the runner to third when he reached base on a bunt and the LCHS defense made a throwing error. A near-miss on a squeeze bunt attempt by Parker followed before Parker then hit a long fly-ball to win the game as Scott tagged up and scored.
Russellville batters with hits in the game included Kitterman, who went two-for-two along with an intentional walk by Lawrence County when RHS already had runners at first and second. Gist, Scott and Buckhalter had the other Russellville hits.
Russellville 1, Lawrence County 0
The Golden Tigers took their second victory of the evening against the Red Devils in a game that matched the score of the previous contest between the two teams.
Parker was in the middle of the action at the plate and on the mound in this battle. The junior led off the fifth inning with a double before Colten Madden advanced courtesy runner Omar Tompkins to third. Then, Gist drove in the only run of the game with a single as part of his two-for-two night at the plate.
Parker got the win as pitcher by striking out four batters and allowing only two hits over five innings of work. Jaret Ward came on to get the save by pitching the game’s final two innings.
Kitterman continued his hot hitting by going two-for-three, and he also stole two bases. Devin Buckhalter also reached base with a hit for RHS.
Westbrook Christian 6, Russellville 4
The No. 5-ranked in Class 2A Warriors came to Russellville Saturday and took the first game of the day.
The Golden Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings, but WCS answered with four runs in the top of the third. The Warriors broke a 4-4 tie with two runs in the sixth inning and held on for the win.
Hits by RHS came from the bats of Fernandez (2) and Gist (1). Malone had two RBIs, while Buckhalter and Ezzell had one RBI each.
Russellville 11, Hamilton 1
The Golden Tigers (12-5) got back on track in their second game Saturday by taking out the Aggies in six innings.
Malone got the win on the mound by pitching five innings of three-hit ball. He struck out nine and allowed three hits. Tanner James pitched the game’s final inning for RHS.
Scott led Russellville with a three-for-four and four RBIs night at the plate. Hunter Briles, Ezzell, Kitterman and Parker also had hits. Nate Green picked up an RBI with a bases-loaded walk, and Layne Johns scored a run for Russellville.
