By Bart Moss

For the FCT

The Red Bay Tigers defeated the Phil Campbell Bobcats Saturday 11-3 to capture the Franklin County baseball tournament. Neither team faced each other during the regular season, but Saturday’s game was the beginning of potentially a four-game series. Both teams will meet in the first round of the 2A state playoffs beginning Friday at Phil Campbell.

Red Bay scored three runs in the sixth inning on an RBI double by Nick Thorn and a two-run single by Troy Borden.

Kaleb Burroughs reached base four times in the game for the Tigers. He scored two runs and had one RBI. He doubled in the fourth inning and singled in the first and sixth innings.

Colby Knoblock racked up eight strikeouts in the the Red Bay win. Knoblock allowed no earned runs, three hits and three walks over seven innings.

Nick Swinney took the loss for Phil Campbell. He allowed six runs in five innings, walked one and struck out seven.

A three-run blast to centerfield by Colby Baker in the bottom of the first gave the Bobcats their only runs of the game scoring Joe Hardy and Peyton Thomas.

The game was never in doubt after the fourth, as Red Bay scored one run on an RBI double by Kaleb Burroughs.

The Tigers got two-run rallies in the fifth inning and the seventh. In the fifth, the Red Bay Tigers scored on an RBI single by Landen Burgett, scoring Max Bullen.

Red Bay defeated Tharptown to advance to the finals. Phil Campbell had defeated Vina to advance.