Swinging in the rain

By Staff
Russellville 10-11 All-Stars win district championship
Kim West
SHEFFIELD – The Russellville 10-11 All-Stars repeated as District 6 champions with a 13-0 victory over Phil Campbell in the drizzly tournament finals at Sheffield Youth Park Friday.
Hunter Kiel went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs and Jacob Bynon went 3-for-3 with two doubles to lead a Russellville team that outscored its opponents 38-4 during the three-game tournament.
Russellville took control early, scoring five unearned runs en route to a 8-0 lead in the first inning as Dylan Mansell and Nick Hicks each had RBI singles and Jacob Wallace had an RBI triple.
Russellville went ahead 9-0 in the second inning as Bynon led off with a stand-up double to center field, stole third base and scored on an error.
After Hunter Greenhill led off with an infield single, Kiel smacked a second-pitch fastball over the centerfield wall to make the score 11-0 in the third inning.
Russellville added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning as Ryan Mitchell doubled, Zach Garrison singled and scored and Wallace scored.
Kiel was also the winning pitcher, recording seven strikeouts in three innings, while Micah Fleming earned the save. Kiel was able to escaped bases-loaded jams in the second and third innings despite walking six batters, and the Russellville pitchers allowed only one hit in four innings of work.
Christopher Thomas started the game for Phil Campbell but gave way to Skyler Tackett in the first inning. Tackett pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing only three earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
Phil Campbell's Ryan Setliff went 1-for-3 with a leadoff single to right field in the bottom of the third inning.
Ryan Mitchell went 2-for-2 with a double, while Bynon, who homered twice during the tournament, Hunter Greenhill and Zach Garrison each scored two runs. Garrison, Dylan Mansell, Nick Hicks each had an RBI single.
The 11-12 All-Stars District 6 tournament started yesterday at Sheffield Youth Park with Russellville playing Sheffield and Phil Campbell facing Tuscaloosa-Barnes.
The double-elimination tournament will continue today with the Phil Campbell-Tuscaloosa winner playing the Russellville-Sheffield winner at 5:30 p.m. and the losing teams playing at 7:30 p.m.
The championship game is set for Wednesday at 6 p.m. with an if-necessary game scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m.