By Staff
The youngest edition of the American Legion Post 52 flying baseball squadron opened the season with a runners-up finish at a tournament in north Huntsville. They went on to split a double-header with the Post 15 team from West Morgan and swept the Post 52-Brewer 15-16 year-olds team along with the Post 15 Falkville squad.
At the season-opening tournament played at Butler High School in Huntsville, the Avengers took on older Legion squad and almost secured the championship.
The Avengers defeated squads from north and south Huntsville and Athens to reach the championship.
There they ran afoul of a senior squad from Tuscumbia and had to settle for the runners-up position.
They finished the tourney with a 3-1 record.
The Avengers opened their regular season with a double-header against the West Morgan squad and split, giving them a 4-2 record.
Since then the Avengers have been living in the wins column.
The Avengers scored first with a lone run in the first inning, but followed with four plates in the second. Neither team scored in the third, but Brewer got on the board with a single run in the top of the fourth. The Brewer squad added two more in the fifth, but the Avengers sealed their win with a six-run rally in the bottom of the inning.
Zach Smith picked up the win in a complete game performance. He struck out nine and walked none. He gave up six hits.
Michael Scott sparked the Avenger attack with a three-run yard trip and added a base hit to the hitting stats.
Andrew Reeves ripped a pair of singles to drive in three Avenger runs. JaCote Ward went 2 for 2 at the plate with a pair of base hits. Hunter Brasher had an RBI single. Chase Lusk connected for a base hit, while Daniel Crowe, Kris Berry and Josh Walters all got RBIs.
Brewer got on the board first in the second game, but the Avengers soon pulled into the lead as they scored in all six innings.
Seth Watson got the pitching win in six innings.
Brasher got the big hit of the evening for the Avengers with a double. Chris Wiley drove in three runs with two singles, while Berry accounted for four runs on two base hits. Connecting for base hits were Alex Thompson, Smith and Reeves.
Scoring twice for the Avengers were Brasher, Wiley, Watson and Reeves. Smith, Ward, Berry and Justin Youngblood plated one run each.
The Avengers took command of their opening game with the Falkville Legion squad from their first at-bat.
The Avengers scored twice in the bottom of the first inning and plated runs in the remaining four innings. Falkville avoided a shutout by scoring a lone run in the top of the second inning.
Justin Youngblood was the winning pitcher for Hartselle in four innings of work. Hunter Brasher worked one inning for the save.
Wiley was the most effective Avengers with a 3-RBI double. Lusk doubled and scored twice. Brasher and Watson singled twice for one RBI each. Youngblood had a 2-RBI single and Crowe finished with a base hit.
Andrew Reeves fanned 10 Falkville batters as the Avengers completed their sweep.
Hartselle scored first with a single run in the bottom of the first. They added two in the third, one in the fourth and capped their scoring with a one-run reply to Falkville's only plate of the game.
Reeves allowed three hits and two walks in seven innings on the mound.
Wiley collected three RBIs, and Reeves' got one. Ward was the Avengers' most proficient at the plate, stroking three singles and plating two runs. Brasher got the big hit with a double. Thompson, Scott and Reeves were good for singles.