GAME ONE:
Hartselle High School struck early and often to pull out a 10-3 victory over Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa in Game 2 of the Class 6A State Baseball Championships Jim Case Stadium/Rudy Abbott Field on the campus of Jacksonville State University Friday morning.
The Tigers’ victory forced Game 3 in the best two-of-three championship series, which was scheduled to start at 1:10 p.m.
Game 2 opened with a bang with Hartselle’s Brody Leathers leading off with a single in the top of the first. Cade Miles followed with a triple to right field. Hillcrest’s Kahden Smith retrieved the ball near the right-field fence, fired to second baseman Jameson Farley, who relayed a perfect throw to catcher Evan Williams, who tagged out Leathers sliding in at home.
Hartselle’s Jo Williamson followed with a single, however, plating Miles as the Tigers (33-10) took a 1-0 lead.
Hillcrest’s Smith made a diving catch in the top of second inning to rob Hartselle’s Peyton Steele of an extra-base hit for the first out. Cole Miles followed with a two-out double to left-center, but the Patriots’ defense rose up again to get out of the inning when pitcher Spencer Davis knocked down a hard-hit grounder hit by Asher Doepel which ricocheted to Farley at second base who fielded the ball and got the out at first to end the inning.
Hartselle’s defense emerged in the bottom of the second when Brooks Tunnell, who singled to left, was thrown out sliding into third base by Steele, the Tigers’ right fielder, who grabbed a long hit to right-center by Rhett Turnipseed on hop and fired a strike to Williamson, Hartselle’s third baseman, who made the tag and ended the Patriots’ scoring threat.
The Tigers, coached associate head coach Jake Miles, tacked a run in unearned run the top of the third inning when Leathers reached first on an infield error, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Williamson’s towering double to right which bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.
Lawson Williams followed with a single to right driving in Williamson as Hartselle took a 3-0 lead.
Hillcrest (31-13), coached by Mark Garner, got its first run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Brooks Tunnell blasted a shot over the left-field fence for a solo homer and the Patriots trailed 3-1.
Hartselle got that run back in the top of the fifth when Cade Miles walked, stole second and scored on a single to left by Cam Palahach. Williams followed with a run-scoring single to right to stretch Hartselle’s lead to 5-1. By the time Hillcrest got the third out, The Tiger had played four runs to take a 7-1 lead.
Hartselle added two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh, and Hillcrest score two runs in the bottom of the sixth to close out the scoring.
Williamson led all hitters with a double, two singles and two RBIs. Lawson Williams also finished with three hits and three RBIs. Cade Miles had hits, including a triple, and scored three times for the Tigers. Ninth batter Asher Doepel had one hit and drove in two runs.
Farley and Tunnell each had three hits for the Patriots.
Nick Chumley pitched a complete game to get the win for the Tigers. He scattered 11 hits, walked none and struck out four. Spencer Davis started and pitched into the fifth inning for Hillcrest to get the loss. He allowed eight hits, six runs and struck out two.
Hartselle Hall of Fame head coach William Booth passed away earlier this week after an extended illness.
The Class 6A State Baseball Championship Series played Game 1 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford Thursday with the Patriots winning 14-3 in five innings Thursday.
GAME TWO:
Senior Jackson Henderson drilled a grand-slam home run in the top of the fifth inning to give Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa its first lead of Game 3 in the AHSAA Class 6A State Baseball Championship Series played Jim Case Stadium/Rudy Abbott Field on the campus of Jacksonville State University.
The Patriots (32-13) pulled out a 7-6 win over Hartselle High School in Game 3 to capture the school’s fourth state championship overall and their first since 2016 in the process.
Henderson shouldered an enormous role in the finals. He started on the mound and pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing six hits, six runs and struck out six. He also finished 3-for-4 in the deciding game – collecting a single in the seventh inning to move teammate Jameson Farley into scoring position. Hillcrest’s Brooks Tunnell drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly.
And third baseman Noah Latham moved to the mound when Henderson reached his pitch count limit close out the final four outs to get the save.
Hartselle (33-11) took the early lead in Game 3 with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Lawson Williams drove in Brody Leathers in the bottom of the first inning. Hillcrest’s Henderson struck out two to get out of the inning without any further damage.
Henderson came to the plate in the top of the second inning and ripped a liner off the left-field fence for a long single. He scored on a two-out single to left by Gunnar Hobson. Hartselle starting pitcher Landon Blackwood got out of the inning thanks to two runners being thrown out trying to steal second base.
Asher Doepel and Leathers each drove in a run in the bottom of the second inning to Hartselle on top again 3-1. Hillcrest battled back to score one run when Brooks Tunnell singled in Caleb Kelly. Blackwood pitched out of the jam, however, with the Patriots leaving the bases full.
Hillcrest mounted a threat again in the top of the fifth with lead-off hitter Kahden Smith drawing a walk, Jameson Farley following with a sharp hit up the middle, and Evan Williams walked. With the bases full, Miles went to his bullpen bringing in Cole Miles. Blackwood pitched four innings, allowed six hits, and struck out three.
Henderson came to the plate and greeted the reliever by slamming a grand slam home run over the left-field fence to give the Patriots their first lead of the game, 6-3. In fact, it was their first lead since winning Game 1 of the series on Thursday. The homer traveled 392 feet and came off the Henderson’s bat at 102 mph, according to JSU’s measuring apparatus.
Hartselle roared back quickly, however. Cam Palahach drilled a high bouncing single to left with the bases full to drive in two runs cutting Hillcrest’s lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the fifth. The Patriots turned a double play and Henderson got the final out of the inning with a strikeout – stranding the potential tying run at third base. Hartselle tied the game with single run in the bottom of the sixth setting up the exciting finish.
Henderson earned MVP honors for the Patriots. Head coach Mark Garner said his team struggled early this season but came together thanks to a team-oriented unselfish approach.
“It is only fitting that we got the final run on a sacrifice fly,†he said.
He also said he and his team were honored to play Hartselle, who played the series this week after their beloved Hall-of-Fame head coach William Booth passed away after an extended illness. The Tigers won nine state championships during Booth’s tenure as head coach and posted more than 1,200 wins.
Latham also had two hits, and Tunnell had one hit and two RBIs.
Leathers had one hit, scored two runs, and had two RBIs for Hartselle, coached by Booth’s assistant head coach Jake Miles. Palahach also had two hits and two RBIs, and Witt Crisler had two hits and scored two runs in the final game.
The 6A series was the sixth of seven series that went all three games this a week – a first for the AHSAA state baseball finals since moving to the neutral site format in 2000.
