RHS improves to 10-5 with winning week
By Brannon King for the FCT
Russellville 14, Lawrence County 0
Senior Cody Greenhill dominated on the mound and with the bat as the Golden Tigers defeated the Red Devils at RHS on a cold March 14 day.
Greenhill threw his third career no-hitter in the five-inning game and went 3-3 with six RBIs at the plate to give RHS a win in their first home game of the season – after playing their first ten games on the road. LCHS got their first baserunner in the last inning as a batter reached on an error. Greenhill struck out 12 Red Devils and, during one stretch, struckout eight hitters in a row on his way to win No. 30 in his varsity career.
The big inning for Russellville came in the third when the Golden Tigers scored eight runs. RHS scored in every frame and ended the day with 12 hits to go 1-0 in Class 5A, Area 16 play. Greenhill and Noah Gist both hit homeruns for Russellville. Tom Barkley Scott had two hits for RHS, while Colin Garrison, Colten Madden, Judd Ward, Landon Ezzell, Skylar Holland and Jeff Lloyd all had a hit each. Garrison, Greenhill and Scott had doubles for Russellville.
Russellville 8, Lawrence County 0
The Golden Tigers stopped the Red Devils for the second consecutive game as RHS traveled to Moulton March 16 and took the second Area game of the season against Lawrence County.
Another senior right-hander was the story on the mound for Russellville, as Chad Wray threw his second-straight complete game shutout for the win. Wray struck out nine Red Devils and only walked one, allowing five hits in the game. He was coming off of a similar performance against Helena in his last start when he defeated the Huskies.
Skylar Holland went 2-4 with two RBIs and one run scored for Russellville. Holland and Ezzell each had a double for RHS while Garrison, Judd Ward, Rudy Fernandez, Lloyd, Russ Carpenter and Jaret Ward also added hits. Carpenter and Lloyd had two RBIs each, while Greenhill and Gist both scored two runs apiece.
Russellville 15, Lawrence County 3
Russellville completed the sweep of the Red Devils in Moulton with another strong performance with the bats and on defense.
RHS scored five runs in the first and nine in the second inning to get off to a fast start. Russellville picked up a single run in the final frame of the five-inning contest, and the Red Devils scored all three of their runs in the fifth as well.
Greenhill and Holland continued their hot-hitting to lead Russellville. Greenhill went 2-2 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored. Holland was 2-3 with four RBIs, and he also scored a run. Houston Kitterman had a double and three RBIs for RHS. He also reached on a walk and scored a run in the win. Ezzell scored three times and drove in a run for Russellville, while Colin Garrison reached base three times on walks. Garrison, Judd Ward and Gist all scored two times each for RHS. Carpenter also picked up a double for the Golden Tigers.
Skylar Holland started the game on the mound for RHS and worked two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four. Rudy Fernandez got the win in relief by pitching one scoreless inning with two strikeouts. Judd Ward and Sid Willis both pitched one inning each to finish the game. Ward allowed no hits and struck out two, while Willis struck out one batter.
Russellville 6, Westbrook Christian 0
The Golden Tigers continued their winning ways March 18 with a home win over the 2A Warriors of Rainbow City. Three Golden Tiger pitchers worked to combine for the shutout win. Cody Greenhill started and pitched three innings. He allowed three hits and struck out three batters. Skylar Holland got the win on the mound, also pitching three innings. He gave up two hits and had five strikeouts before Judd Ward came on to close out the game by working the final inning allowing no hits and one walk, and he picked up a strikeout.
Ward, Greenhill, Holland, Carpenter, Gist and Kitterman all had hits for RHS. Greenhill hit a homerun, while Ward and Holland both had doubles. Garrison, batting from the leadoff spot, reached base three times on walks.
“Westbrook Christian swung the bat really well and pitched well. We knew that would be a good competitive game. They were 3A last year, and they jumped down to 2A this year,” Russellville head coach Chris Heaps said. “Their coach is a friend of mine, and he came over and spent a little time with me this summer, wanting to try to learn some of the things that we’re doing that have been successful with our program.”
Russellville 6, Hamilton 1
Hamilton came to Russellville March 18 and fell to the Golden Tigers for the second time this season. With the win, the RHS record improved to 10-5 on the season, and Russellville has won five straight games and six of their last seven contests this season. RHS also improved to 3-0 in home games on the year so far.
The Aggies jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning before RHS took control of the game. Russellville claimed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first on a run scored by Garrison and an Ezzell RBI double that scored Judd Ward. Russellville picked up four more runs in the fifth inning when Ward had an RBI triple, Ezzell picked up another RBI double and Greenhill hit a two-run homerun.
Fernandez got the win. He pitched five innings before Skylar Holland came on in relief and worked the last two innings.
