By Staff
Charles Prince, Hartselle Enquirer
The Hartselle Tigers crushed the Decatur Red Raiders twice on the baseball diamond this past Monday.
Hartselle took the opening game 13-3 and then won the second 10-0.
Game 1
Hartselle 13, Decatur 3
After scoring once in the top of the first inning Decatur took a 3-0 lead in the second inning on shortstop Spencer Tate's two-run home run.
Hartselle coach William Booth decided it was time to rally his team as the Tigers came to bat in the bottom of the second.
"Come on guys we need a big inning," Booth said. "We need to get those runs back right now."
The Tigers responded with a big 10-run second inning on their way to a 13-3 win. Justin Youngblood singled and stole second base to start off the inning for Hartselle. Then Jacote Ward doubled Youngblood home with the first Tiger run.
Singles by Chris Wiley, Seth Watson and David Cameron tied the game at three. Chris Kolenberg drew a walk followed by a run scoring double by Logan Whitlow that gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead.
Brian Ellis then tripled to score two more runs. Craig Womack singled home Ellis for an 8-3 Tiger lead.
The Tigers scored eight runs before Decatur could record an out. Watson and Ward finished off the inning with RBI singles.
In the bottom of the fourth inning Cameron and Whitlow each drove in one run. A third run scored in the inning on a Decatur error.
Logan Whitlow went two-for-three with one run and two RBIs.
Zack Andrews, who gave up four hits and three runs in the first two innings, picked up his first win of the year with a complete game. Andrews allowed only one hit over the final three innings.
Game 2
Hartselle 10, Decatur 0
Hartselle got strong pitching in the nightcap from Brandon Wallace, Seth Watson and Andrew Reeves as the Tigers shut out the Red Raiders. Wallace, who started the game, pitched two innings to pick up the win and improved his record to 1-1 on the season. Watson pitched the third and fourth innings while Reeves pitched a perfect fifth inning to close out the game.
Youngblood went two-for-three and stole four bases while scoring a run. Wiley added a two-run double in the third inning to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth. Four runs scored on Red Raider errors, Decatur committed five errors for the game and a total of eight in the doubleheader. Watson had one RBI while Ward scored another run in addition to going two-for-four at the plate with a double.
The two wins brought the Tigers record at 2-2 for the season. They lost twice to Paul Bryant High School of Tuscaloosa on Saturday by the scores of 7-5 and 10-6.
In Saturday's games Youngblood went three-for-three in the opener with a run and a RBI. In the second game Youngblood was two-for-four at the plate with a run scored. Wiley went three-for-five with a run scored and drove in three runs in the second game.
The Tigers host Grissom in a doulbeheader Thursday Feb. 26 starting at 4 p.m.