By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
SPRINGVILLE – Both Springville teams (baseball and softball) have had great seasons on the diamond and that did not stop this weekend as both teams swept their opponents and punched their tickets to further their play in the postseason.
The Tiger baseball team beat Southside in back-to-back games on Friday to seal the deal and gain an extra day of rest by avoiding a game three on Saturday.
In the first game against the Panthers, Springville got a 4-2 win. The teams were scoreless in the first, but the Tigers got two in the second. Southside would tie it up in the bottom of the fifth. The two would go into extra innings with Springville putting up two in the ninth and holding on in the bottom of the inning to finish off the Panthers. Carter Samuelson went seven innings and allowed six hits and two runs while striking out seven. R King picked up the win, pitching the final two innings and allowing no hits nor runs while striking out two batters. S Nichols drove in two runs in the game to lead the Tigers at the plate.
Game two would become a win or go home situation for Southside and Springville would once again win, this time sending the Panthers back up 59 with a loss and ending their season. The Tigers would jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first, but Southside picked up a run in the top of the second and third to make it 3-2. The Tiger bats would wake up in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs to make it 7-2, but the Panthers would not go away. Springville got two more runs in the bottom of the fourth but Southside exploded in the top of the fifth with six runs to make it 9-7 Springville. The Tigers added another in the bottom of the fifth and then Southside could only muster a single run in the top of the seventh, ending the game with a 10-9 win for the Springville Tigers. Alex Holland went four-plus innings, allowing eight hits and eight runs to go with four strikeouts. King got his second win of the day, coming in for the remaining two-plus innings and allowing three hits, a run and striking out a batter. Holland got it done at the plate as well, driving in three RBI along with three from T Oakes and two from Jake Conner.
The Tigers now look to extend the season even more as they take on the Russellville Golden Tigers who put out fellow Tribune team, the Leeds Greenwave, this past weekend. They will travel to Russellville on Thursday in third round playoff action.
Springville Lady Tigers seniors Bella Bullington, Kiley Christopher, Emmy Leopard, and Lanie Otwell on senior night.
Photo by: SHS Athletics
The Lady Tiger softball team has had quite the season as well, even claiming the top ranking from the ASWA for a good part of the season. They grabbed wins over Fairview and Hayden on Friday and another over the Wildcats on Saturday to clinch the area title and move on to round two of the playoffs.
Friday’s game against Fairview was a blowout win of 16-0 that was called after just two and a half innings of play. Springville scored six in the first and nine in the second to put away the Aggies. Bella Bullington pitched all three innings allowing a hit and no runs to go with four strikeouts. A host of Tigers drove in multiple RBI to lead at the plate.
Friday’s second game was another blowout in favor of the Springville Lady Tigers, this time an 11-1 drubbing of the Hayden Wildcats. Springville took a little more time getting this win as Hayden actually started the game by going up 1-0 over the Tigers in the first. Springville would answer with four in the second, one in the third, five in the fourth and one for good measure in the sixth. Georgia Chancellor went the distance allowing five hits and one run while striking out five. Kiley Christopher led at the plate with three RBI.
In the weekend finale, those same Wildcats would meet a similar fate at the hands of the top-ranked Tigers. This time it would be a 10-1 victory for Springville. Hayden would take another 1-0 lead after one inning followed by Springville putting up three in the second, three in the fifth and four in the sixth to earn the nine-point win and win the area championship. S Hathcock (four innings) and Chancellor (three innings) combined for seven strikeouts while allowing six hits and a single run in the game. A Locklear had five RBI to go with three from A Layfield, two of them coming on a two-run home run in the final inning of the game.
The top-ranked Tigers take their nine-game winning streak into the second round of the playoffs where their opponent is to be determined at this time.
