Bobcats beat Geraldine; play Oakman in Round 2
The Phil Campbell Bobcats bounced back after a series opening loss to Geraldine to win the next two games and advance to the second round of the Class 3A baseball playoffs.
Phil Campbell will travel to Oakman for round two on Friday with games at 4:30 and 7 p.m. Game three, if necessary, will be on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Bobcats left the bases loaded three times in game one on Thursday evening and made a couple of critical errors that overshadowed a solid pitching performance by freshman Jack Owens in a 4-1 loss to Geraldine.
The Bobcats recovered in the nightcap with an easy 13-3 win in game two to send the series to a deciding game three on Friday afternoon.
Phil Campbell took a comfortable 8-2 lead in game three, but Geraldine cut the lead to 8-7 late in the game. The Bobcats, however, responded quickly to put the game out of reach to win the series and advance to round two.
Shooter Motes connects with pitch for Phil Campbell.
In game one, Owens struck out 12 Geraldine batters and gave up just four hits over six innings and walked just two in the 4-1 loss.
Chandler Benford led Phil Campbell at the plate with two hits in three at bats from the leadoff position.
In game two, Shooter Motes went 3-for-3 at the plate to lead the Bobcats past the Bulldogs 13-3 in five innings. Motes singled in the first, second, and fifth innings.
Phil Campbell opened the scoring in the top of the first, thanks to two singles. The Bobcats got on the board when Isaac Duboise singled and later scored. Geraldine tied the game in the bottom of the first.
Phil Campbell took the lead 4-2 in the top of the second after Duboise singled down the right field line and Motes singled down the left field line. The Bobcats scored six runs on one hit in the third inning to effectively put the game away.
Duboise earned the win for Phil Campbell allowing five hits and three runs, two earned, over five innings, striking out five and walking three.
The Bobcats and Bulldogs returned the diamond Friday afternoon for a decisive game three. Benford drove in four runs on two hits to lead Phil Campbell past Geraldine. Benford singled in the third inning, scoring three runs, and doubled in the sixth inning, scoring two runs.
Phil Campbell took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning. The Bobcats broke the game open in the bottom of the third, scoring five runs on two hits to take a 7-2 lead. Phil Campbell added another run in the fifth inning to increase the lead to 8-2.
Things got interesting in the sixth inning. Geraldine scored five runs in the top half of the inning to cut Phil Campbell’s lead to 8-7, but the Bobcats responded in the bottom half with five runs to put the game away.
Benford got the win on the mound going the distance striking out 10 batters.
