Senior's three home runs carry Bobcats past Falkville
By Staff
Mike Self FCT Sports Editor
PHIL CAMPBELL - A few weeks ago, Phil Campbell seniors Randy Cochran and Griffin Harris decided to start commemorating each of their home runs with a carefully choreographed handshake at home plate.
If Cochran continues to swing the bat like he did on Tuesday, they'll have the handshake down in no time.
The senior catcher blasted a solo homer, a two-run homer and a three-run homer to finish with six RBIs as the Bobcats advanced to the second round of the Class 2A playoffs with a 13-4 victory over Falkville.
Harris, who went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs, was the first to greet Cochran at home plate after each of his blasts.
Cochran finished 4-for-4, singling down the third base line in the first inning and then going yard in each of his next three plate appearances.
He hit a two-run homer just inside the left field foul pole to cap Phil Campbell's four-run second inning; a solo shot to right-center leading off the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-1; and a three-run shot to left-center the next inning to effectively slam the door after Falkville had trimmed the lead to 5-3.
Phil Campbell (25-11) finished with 12 hits on the day, six for extra bases. The final score might have been even more lopsided had the Bobcats not stranded 10 runners on base.
After Falkville scored an unearned run off Jonathan Dill in the top of the second, the Bobcats took the lead for good in the bottom half.
Korey Pounders reached on an error with two outs, and Harris followed with a single to left.
Dill then doubled inside the bag at third to score both runners. Falkville's relay throw beat Harris to the plate, but his hard slide jarred the ball loose from the catcher and gave Phil Campbell a 2-1 lead.
Cochran followed with his first homer of the day to make it 4-1.
His second blast gave the Bobcats a four-run lead through four innings, but the Blue Devils rallied with two outs in the fifth. Two hits and two errors produced a pair of unearned runs that made it 5-3.
Dill escaped without further damage, getting the final batter of the inning to ground to third on a 2-0 curveball with the tying run at first base.
Tate Canida led off the bottom of the fifth with a double into the left-field corner, and one out later Harris was intentionally walked for the second time.
Dill drove in a run with an infield hit to make it 6-3, and Cochran crushed the next pitch over the fence in left-center to extend the lead to 9-3.
Falkville scored its final run in the top of the sixth, but Harris delivered a key two-run single in the bottom half as the Bobcats answered with four runs to go up by nine.
Dill (8-2) earned the win, allowing one earned run on eight hits in six innings. He struck out four batters and hit two.
Caleb Thompson pitched a scoreless seventh.
Dill finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, and Kevin Lacey added a double. Steven Lacey had a single.
Pounders scored two runs, and Thompson, Canida, Adam Mitchell and Dillon Hamby each scored one.
