Golden Tiger baseball goes on road, takes two of three
The Russellville Golden Tigers varsity baseball team went on the road and won two of three games over the past week.
Four pitchers combined to throw a shutout March 3 at Haleyville, as RHS defeated the Lions by a 4-0 score.
Casen Heaps got the start on the mound and pitched the game’s first 2.1 innings, allowing no hits, and he struck out a batter. Logan White followed, and the left-hander threw 1.2 innings of no-hit ball, striking out two and walking none.
Next, side-arm pitcher Emitt Green took the mound, and he also went 1.2 innings. Green allowed a hit and a walk while also picking up a strike out.
Finally, Samuel Pace finished off the win in his first action of the season by pitching 1.1 innings, allowing no hits, and he struck out a hitter.
“That was Casen’s first start of the year, and I was proud of our guys getting him a couple of runs,” said Chris Heaps, Russellville head coach and dad of the starting pitcher. “It was a well-pitched game.
“I was glad to get Samuel Pace back; he had some tendonitis that flared up on him as he came over from basketball. He was throwing even though basketball was going on, and I think he did a little too much a little too early and got this elbow flared up on him a little bit. I was worried about it, but it turned out to be tendonitis, so we’re glad to have him back.”
At the plate, Russellville batters had eight hits versus Haleyville pitching. Shortstop Cole Barnett led the way with a three-for-four performance including a double, an RBI and a run scored.
Nick Smith and Eli Gipson both had two hits each, with Smith picking up an RBI and Gipson scoring a run.
Will Rogers had the other hit for the Golden Tigers, batting from the leadoff spot. Meanwhile, Jacob Bishop pinch hit and put the ball in play to bring home two insurance runs during the top of the sixth inning.
The Golden Tigers went to Guntersville High School March 7 for a doubleheader against Oneonta and GHS.
Russellville dropped game one to Oneonta by a 3-2 final score. The Golden Tigers outhit OHS by a 5-3 total, with Rowe Gallagher getting the start on the mound for Russellville. The junior right-hander went five innings, allowing three unearned runs while giving up three hits and two walks. He struck out five and threw 84 pitches before Green came on in relief.
Green pitched two spotless innings while striking out four batters.
The RHS hits were by Gipson, Rogers, Barnett, Casen Heaps and Canyon Pace. Pace had a double and a RBI. Bishop and Barnett scored the Russellville runs.
Guntersville was the opponent in game two of the day for the Golden Tigers, and RHS got the win, 6-3. Samuel Pace started the contest on the mound, and he got the win. He threw three innings, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out two and walked a batter.
Logan White followed in relief, and he pitched 2.1 innings. White allowed four hits and two runs before Green came on for the save.
Green struck out three and gave up two hits over 1.2 innings.
Russellville (8-4) got a three-for-four game at the plate by Gipson. He had a double and a run scored, while Jackson Lindsey went two-for-three with a walk and two runs scored.
Other RHS hits were by Canyon Pace, Barnett, Rogers and Heaps. Reed Hill, JD Bishop, Rogers and Heaps had the RBIs.
