RHS boys face quarterfinals action
By Brannon King / For the FCT
Going into Monday’s second-round baseball playoff action tied with Lee-Huntsville at a game apiece in the best-of-three series, the Russellville Golden Tigers knew it would take team effort to advance. Thirteen runs, 16 hits and a solid pitching performance later, they found themselves right where they wanted to be: still alive and working toward another 5A state title.
The Golden Tigers dropped game one Saturday to the Generals by a 3-2 score in eight innings. Disappointed and frustrated, the RHS squad got some timely advice from head coach Chris Heaps about being more selective at the plate. He also instilled confidence in his team by reminding them that series losses by RHS have been few and far between during their dominating run of success in recent years.
Armed with a sense of urgency and a shot of confidence, the Russellville boys showed what they were made of and took game two Saturday behind starting pitcher Rudy Fernandez by a 10-2 score to force a decisive third game Monday.
Junior right-hander Caden Parker took the ball for his first playoff start on the mound and out-dueled Lee ace lefty Ludany Rodriguez. Russellville took the game by a 13-1 score and pounded out 16 hits. Parker got the win by going six innings, allowing one unearned run and striking out eight.
“I’m super-proud of how Parker pitched,” Heaps said. “Parker is not a velocity guy, but he’s a deception guy. He’s a guy that changes speeds well, and he locates away from hitters well.”
Russellville got hits from nine different players in game three. Noah Gist, Rudy Fernandez, Landon Ezzell, Houston Kitterman, Brock Malone, Devin Buckhalter and Hunter Briles all had two hits each. Jeff Lloyd hit a home run, while Ezzell and Malone had doubles.
Nick Smith added a single to the team’s hit total, as well. Buckhalter and Colten Madden had stolen bases, while Jaret Ward, Omar Tompkins and Will Rogers all scored a run each. Tom Barkley Scott got on base for Russellville with a walk.
Ninth-grader Gordon White came on to pitch the game’s final inning after Parker threw 108 pitches. White worked a spotless seventh inning in his varsity debut, allowing no hits or walks to finish off the Generals.
With the series win, Russellville (26-13) will return home to host a Springville team that eliminated Hayden to advance to the quarterfinals. Games one and two will be at RHS Friday, and if a third game is needed, it’s scheduled for Saturday at RHS.
Springville (24-11) and Mortimer Jordan represent Area 11, while Russellville and Brooks are still alive from Area 16 to make up the northern half of remaining schools in the bracket. Since both RHS and Springville have traveled an equal number of times so far in the playoffs, the Golden Tigers get home-field advantage since they were a regular season area winner and Springville was a runner-up.
