By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
BIRMINGHAM – On Friday night, the red-hot Leeds Green Wave took a 6-game winning streak (11 of their last 14) to John Carroll Catholic High School and, if any team was going to look past an opponent, Leeds had that opportunity. But Coach Jake Wingo and his staff had the boys focused and they took care of business against the Cavaliers in an 8-1 thrashing.
Leeds went up 1-0 in the top of the first inning when A Bradford grounded out to third base, bringing in Ty Bedell for the first score of the game as the defense held John Carroll scoreless. The second inning would be much of the same as Leeds put up 2 runs on an Andrew Howard pop fly that got Will Landers across the plate and a Bedell walk with the bases loaded later in the inning. The Cavaliers did not score.
Heading into the third inning with a 3-0 lead, both teams would go scoreless for the next two innings. In the fifth, Leeds would tack on 2 more runs to make it 5-0. Bedell would score on a based ball and Conner Nelson would double to drive in Bradford.
John Carroll would win the sixth inning, getting their first run of the game, but that would be it for the home team. Leeds would get 3 more runs across the plate in the seventh inning to make it 8-1 and that would be the final.
Bedell would have 2 runs on 2 at-bats while Bradford would match his 2 runs on 3 at-bats. Dax Phillips started on the mound and allowed no hits, no runs and struck out 3 batters in 2 innings. Jarod Latta came in for the next two innings and allowed no hits nor runs and sat 4 batters. Nolan Moore got the fifth and sixth innings, allowing a run on 2 hits and got a strikeout and Will Ford finished things up in the seventh striking out 2 and allowing not runs nor hits.
“We played a complete game,” said Coach Wingo. “The guys competed well. For the most part, we were able to execute offensively and hit with runners in scoring position. Our pitchers did well. We pitched 4 different guys and they all did a good job throwing strikes. I was proud of the way our guys played and competed. It was a good win over a good team.”
Leeds finds itself sitting at 17-11 with a 7-game winning streak heading into a monster matchup on Tuesday night against a 15-10 Moody team that have won 4 straight themselves. To say it is a big one is an understatement, as the one who wins it will be in the driver’s seat in the area.
Coach Wingo said, “Moody’s got a great team. They’re well coached. They are playing really good baseball right now. They’ve beat some bigger schools. We’ve got our work cut out for us. It’s going to be a really fun series to play against a good team that’s close by. We are looking forward to it. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Moody Coach Eamonn Kelly shared his thoughts on the upcoming game as well. “Big matchup against a good Leeds team. This is what we play for. A chance to win the area and host a first-round playoff game. We just need to play our game and continue to do the little things right.”