RHS sweeps LCHS to open area play
The Russellville Golden Tigers continued varsity baseball action by starting Class 5A, Area 14, play with a three-game sweep of the Lawrence County Red Devils.
RHS followed that with a trip to Toyota Field in Madison for a Saturday doubleheader at the home of the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
The Golden Tigers are 10-10 on the season including games played through March 25.
Russellville 4, Lawrence County 3
Game one of the series between the Golden Tigers and Red Devils took place in Moulton, and Russellville got the close win.
RHS led 3-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning when Lawrence County plated three runs to even the score. Russellville scored the go-ahead run in the seventh on an RBI ground-out by Brodie Vandiver.
Banks Langston had a double, triple and walk to lead RHS at the plate. The senior centerfielder had two RBIs and scored a run.
Brandt Cummings, Brayden Spurgeon, Cayden Johns and Logan White also hit safely, with Johns collecting a double. Spurgeon helped the cause with an RBI.
Logan White pitched a complete game to get the win. The senior left-hander threw seven innings, allowing nine hits and no earned runs. White struck out 11 and did not walk any Red Devils.
Russellville 10, Lawrence County 0
The Russellville home crowd witnessed a total team effort Thursday as the Golden Tigers blanked LCHS to clinch the series.
Brayden Spurgeon continued the outstanding RHS pitching in the series with a six-inning complete game. The senior allowed one hit, struck out three and walked none.
Spurgeon also had a big game in the batter’s box by picking up a double and driving in three runs. He also walked once and was hit by a pitch.
Vandiver added a hit and two RBIs, and Neyland Baker had two hits and one RBI, including the game-finisher.
Additional Russellville hits and RBIs came from Cummings and Johns. Romans also brought home a run on a bases-loaded walk.
Russellville 7, Lawrence County 1
The second game Thursday and final game of the series also went Russellville’s way.
Langston got the start on the mound in his first pitching action since the season opener at Florence. RHS used three more pitchers, with Burns, Cummings and Johns also logging innings.
Hitting standouts for the Golden Tigers were Langston, Cummings, Spurgeon, Vandiver, Johns, Baker, White and Eli Boutwell.
Riverdale, Tenn., 18, Russellville 6
In the first game Saturday for Russellville at Toyota Field, Riverdale High School from Murfreesboro, Tenn., got the run-rule win in six innings.
The Warriors had a 4-3 lead entering the fifth inning and added five runs in the fifth and nine more in the sixth to build an 18-3 advantage. Russellville scored three runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Langston, RBI ground-out by Spurgeon and run-scoring triple by Vandiver.
James Clemens 3, Russellville 2
The final game for RHS at Toyota Field went the way of the Jets in an extra-inning contest. James Clemens got a single in the bottom of the eighth inning to win after Russellville threatened to score in the top half of the frame but did not.
RHS got two hits each from Cummings and White. Spurgeon, Vandiver, Johns and Baker also hit safely, with Baker’s hit coming as a triple. Johns had the Russellville RBI, and he also got the start on the mound, with Cummings following in relief.
