By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
LEEDS – The Leeds Green Wave find themselves in the second round of the state baseball playoffs after a weekend series against the Scottsboro Wildcats. The Green Wave started a bit slow, losing the first game of the series on Friday despite an early lead, but came back and blew out Scottsboro in game 2 and then pulled out a hard-fought battle in game 3 to advance.
In the first game, the teams went the first 3 innings without scoring. Andrew Howard and the Leeds defense did not yield any points until the fifth inning, where they gave up 2 runs by the Wildcats. Before that, in the fourth inning, where Will Landers reached base on a single and got driven in by a Dax Phillips double. Peyton Moore would get walked and then Grant Gulock would get the single to bring Phillips home to make it 2-0.
In the fifth, as stated above, the Wildcats would tie the game with 2 runs. Leeds would open it up in the sixth, scoring 4 runs in the inning. Scoring would get started as Phillips would get a single to start the inning, followed by a 2-run homer by Jarod Latta, making it 4-2 Green Wave. Moore would get a single to reach first base and a Ty Bedell single and an error by the Scottsboro third baseman would score Moore and make it 5-2 Leeds. Alex Bradford would then drive in Bedell and the Green Wave would head into the seventh inning with a big 6-2 lead.
The seventh inning would not be good to the Leeds Green Wave. Scottsboro would come back, scoring 5 runs in the inning, stealing the win with a 7-6 victory over Leeds.
In game 2, the Green Wave would not be denied. Leeds jumped out of the gate with 9 runs in the opening inning of the second game. C Vance would drive in Bedell followed by a Landers single that would bring in Vance. Phillips would smash one to left field for a 2-run homer to make it 4-0. After walking, Latta would reach home plate on a Moore double to center field. Back to back errors would score Gulock and Bedell and Conner Nelson would hit a single to bring home Bradford to cap off the 9-0 inning.
The second would be scoreless but Leeds was not finished. In the third, Bedell would open the inning by being walked. After 2 outs, Vance would hit a double that brought Bedell across the plate. Landers would single to bring Vance home and make it 11-0 after 3 innings. Nolan Moore would continue to be brilliant from the mound, shutting out the Wildcats. In the fourth, Moore and Gulock would wait on base as Bradford hit a single that would bring both home. Phillips would continue his amazing game with a double that would score a waiting Vance to make it 14-0 and that would be the final.
The rubber game of the series would have a lot on the line with the winner advancing and the loser going home. After 3 scoreless innings, the Green Wave would get on the board and score 2 runs, their only runs of the game on a Nelson single that brought home Gulock and Bedell. Scottsboro would attempt a comeback in the fifth and score a run, but the Leeds defense and Phillips’ pitching would hold them scoreless as Leeds would advance with a 2-1 win.
“Scottsboro has a great team. It was similar to the Moody series. We had a big lead in the seventh in game 1. They came back. Give them credit, “said Leeds coach Jake Wingo. “I told them that unfortunately we had just been through this and we would see how we would respond. They responded the same way. I’m just proud of our guys and the leadership. We scored 9 runs in the first inning of game 2. Then in game 3, it was a low-scoring tough game. We were fortunate to beat them and move on.”
With the win, the Green Wave improve to 24-13 and advance to play a familiar foe in the Russellville Golden Tigers this coming weekend. “They are great. They have been a powerhouse for years. They’ve won 5 of the last 9 state championships and won back-to-back championships in 5A. We played them last year in the third round and they beat us. They have a great program. We are excited for the opportunity to go play them again,” said Wingo.
The first game of that series will be at Russellville on Friday at 5:00 pm.