RHS drops area game to Brooks Lions
The Russellville baseball team took on Brooks in a Class 5A, Area 16 matchup, and the Lions left the Russellville baseball stadium Thursday night with a series win.
After falling in game one at Brooks by a 4-2 score April 3, the Golden Tigers battled back to take game two of the series Thursday with a 9-4 win. However, in game two of the doubleheader, RHS lost 4-1 when some unusual Golden Tiger base running mistakes and a three-run seventh inning did them in – giving Russellville their first area series loss since 2014.
“We made a lot of base running mistakes, and that is uncharacteristic of one of my teams,” Russellville head coach Chris Heaps said. “We spend a lot of time on base running, and we’re normally a lot more educated than what we displayed on the bases tonight.”
Game one of the series was played on a windy day at the Florence Sportsplex. Russellville jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but Brooks answered with a run of their own in the second frame to tie the score. A three-run third inning put the Lions up for good, even though RHS tried for a late rally by scoring their final run in the top of the seventh.
The two teams finished the game even in the hit column with six hits apiece.
Landon Ezzell got the start on the mound and pitched five innings. Three of the four Brooks runs were of the unearned variety, and Ezzell struck out three and walked one batter.
Houston Kitterman worked a spotless inning of relief, allowing no runs or hits and striking out 1.
Kitterman, Noah Gist, Rudy Fernandez, Brock Malone, Caden Parker and Jeff Lloyd had the Russellville hits. Malone and Lloyd had an RBI each, while Colten Madden and Tom Barkley Scott scored the RHS runs.
In game two, Ezzell tied the score at 4-4 with a two-run fifth inning home run. Russellville then took the lead with a big sixth inning.
Malone led things off with a single and was followed by a nice hit on a bunt by Devin Buckhalter. TB Scott then followed with a bunt to load the bases with no outs. Parker picked up a sacrifice fly to left, and after a Hunter Briles single, Gist drove home a run with another sac fly.
The Brooks pitcher then walked Fernandez to load the bases and proceeded to hit Ezzell with a pitch to bring home another run. Kitterman followed things up by reaching on an error, which brought home the two final RHS runs of the contest.
Buckhalter was three-for-three with the bat in the win, and Ezzell smacked a double to go along with his homer.
Rudy Fernandez got the win on the mound by pitching a complete game and striking out nine. He threw 104 pressure-packed pitches and allowed five hits.
The Lions came back and took the second game of the night by breaking a 1-1 tie with three runs in the top half of the seventh inning. Brooks grabbed a 1-0 lead on a close play at the plate in the third, but Russellville answered with a run on a two-out hit by Fernandez in the bottom half of the inning.
The fourth inning saw RHS base runners squander a chance for a lead. A successful pick-off attempt at third was costly and was followed by an out on a rundown play between second and third.
Fernandez, Ezzell and Kitterman had the three Russellville hits.
Parker started and pitched six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked three before Jaret Ward came on in relief. Ward gave up a run and a hit and walked two batters, with one of the walks being an intentional base-on-balls.
Russellville (18-11, 4-2) will need to win an area game in the upcoming series against East Limestone to make the playoffs. With a sweep of the Indians and some help from Lawrence County against Brooks, the Golden Tigers could still win the area.
