By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
LEEDS – After an emotionally exhausting game at Moody on Tuesday night, the Leeds Green Wave baseball team had two choices as they faced the same Blue Devil team on Wednesday night. The first option was to continue to be upset at the outcome and how everything played out Tuesday night. The second, use it as motivation. The Green Wave chose to do the latter, beating Moody 8-0 in the first game and 6-4 in the second on Wednesday night.
In game 1 of the night, Nolan Moore pitched a complete game shutout for Leeds. The Green Wave got the bats going on offense early. In the first, Caden Vane singled to center field to bring home Conner Nelson to put the Green Wave up 1-0 after 1 inning.
In the second inning, Andrew Howard and Peyton Moore got on base right out of the gate and Graham Gulock bunted to bring home Howard for the score. Ty Bedell would get on base with a bunt of his own, loading the bases. After an out by Alex Bradofrd, Nelson would fly to center field for a single that would score More and Gulock and put Bedell on third. The inning would end with Leeds leading 4-0.
The third, fourth and fifth innings would be scoreless for each team before Leeds exploded again with 4 runs in the sixth. Moore got things started with a double to left field. Gulock was walked and then Bedell hit a single to load the bases for Leeds. Bradford stepped to the plate and took the first pitch over the left field wall for a grand slam with no outs on the board, putting Leeds up 8-0 and that is how the game would end.
Nolan Moore would go the distance in the shutout, allowing just 2 hits and striking out 9 batters in the process. Moody’s Chase Marshall would go the distance for the Devils, allowing 8 runs on 12 hits and striking out 5.
At the plate, Alex Bradford would have 4 RBI on his grand slam, for the Green Wave in the game.
The second game would be closer, but the end result would be the same. Like the first game, Leeds would start things off with a 1-0 lead after the first inning was over. Bedell would walk as the first batter, later crossing the plate on a Conner Nelson sacrifice fly.
In the second inning, Leeds would put up 4 runs on Moody beginning with a Moore single that would bring home Jarod Latta and set Howard up at third base. Gulock would walk, loading the bases for Bedell, who would hit a grounder to third where the ball would be mishandled and Howard would get home for the score to make it 3-0 Leeds. Bradford would be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home Moore and Nelson would hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Gulock. Moody would manage to get the next two batters out, avoiding further damage in the second inning.
In the third, Moody would begin to rally as they got their first run on the board with a Payton Isbell grounder to first base that was dropped, scoring Blaine Burke who was on third base. Leeds would be unable to answer in the inning and it would end 5-1 with the Green Wave comfortably in the driver’s seat.
The fourth would be scoreless by both teams and, in the fifth, Moody would continue to scratch their way back into the game. Isbell would triple to center field, bringing home Landon Cherry. Chase Marshall would then double to left and bring Isbell home to make it 5-3, closing the gap between these two rivals.
Leeds would once again be held scoreless in the fifth and Moody would move closer to making another big comeback against Leeds as Blaine Burke hit a grounder to shortstop that would bring home Mitchell and make it a 1-point game, 5-4.
In the top of the sixth, Leeds would get another run on the board to stave off the Blue Devils who had a comeback on their minds. Nelson hit a grounder to second scoring Bedell from second base. Moody would be unable to re-create the magic from Tuesday night, not scoring in the top of the seventh inning, sealing the 6-4 win for Leeds and giving the Green Wave the area championship.
At the mound, for the Green Wave, Dax Phillips pitched 6 innings allowing 4 runs on 8 hits and striking out 2. Jarod Latta came in for an inning to finish things off, allowing 1 hit, no runs and striking out 1 batter. For Moody, Bryant Hardin took the loss, pitching 5 innings and allowing 6 runs on 4 hits and striking out 2. Landon Cherry finished things up for the Blue Devils, pitching an inning and allowing 1 run, no hits and striking out 3.
At the plate, Moody’s Payton Isbell led with 2 RBI and Leeds’ Conner Nelson matched the 2 RBI for the Green Wave.
“I thought Leeds executed their pitches well in both games, especially in game 2,” said Eamonn Kelly, Moody’s coach. “We struggled to score guys when they were in scoring position. We hit there decently and actually out hit them. We made some mistakes by walking some guys and hitting a couple of guys early to dig a big hole. We battled back but it was too late. Kudos to their staff and how they plated us coming out of game 1. Coach Wingo does a great job with those guys. We have to focus on us and get ready for a great 1st round opponent from here.”
Leeds coach Jake Wingo said, “I am super proud of our players and how they responded after what happened in game 1. They were determined to get the job done. In the first game, Nolan Moore pitched a complete game shutout. He did a fantastic job. We were able to get some things going offensively. Get some small ball going and bunt the baseball. Alex Bradford had the grand slam which was huge for us. In game 2, Dax Phillips pitched great. He pitched 5 innings. Moody made a run after we had 5 runs in the first 2 innings. They were able to scratch some runs across. Made it 5-4. We were able to score a run in the sixth to make it 6-4. Jarod Latta did a great job coming in and finishing for us. It was a hard-fought game. Moody played great and challenged us. Great series against a great opponent. Give them credit. We are fortunate to have won the series.”
Coach Wingo continued, “This is really big for our community and our school. I’m just really happy for our kids because they put the work in. It’s good to see the hard work pay off and they deserve it.”
Before the playoffs, Leeds, now 20-12, will play Sylacauga on Monday night and then John Carroll on Tuesday. Moody, now 16-12, plays Minor on Monday and travels to Pell City Tuesday.