Starting pitchers dazzle as Eagles, Vestavia split
VESTAVIA HILLS – It was a starting pitcher’s world at Sammy Dunn Field on Saturday in the Class 7A high school baseball quarterfinal series between Vestavia Hills and Oak Mountain.
Both teams salvaged a game on Saturday, after wet and cold conditions delayed the start of the series on Friday. The teams took the field on a beautiful day, with Oak Mountain winning Game 1, 2-0, before the Rebels bounced back to outlast the Eagles in Game 2, 7-1, in 12 innings.
“That’s exactly what you expect out of 7A quarterfinal baseball, except probably even better,” said Oak Mountain coach Derek Irons.
In Game 1, the Eagles staked starter Gene Hurst to a two-run lead in the second inning, and that would be all he needed. Hurst hurled a shutout and allowed just five hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts.
“He was really, really good the whole game,” Irons said. “That took a lot of pressure off our offense by him pitching so well.”
Colton Lewis threw seven great innings in a complete game effort for the Rebels as well, allowing just the two second-inning runs and five hits in the contest.
“By and large, he threw great,” Vestavia coach Jamie Harris said. “That (second inning) was it. That’s playoff baseball. One play here, one play there, and you win or lose.”
The second game was even more of a pitcher’s duel than the first one, with the final 7-1 score line not indicative of the overall picture of the contest.
Oak Mountain starter Joseph Hartsfield added to his outstanding playoff ledger, as he went 9 2/3 innings on Saturday without allowing a run. The two teams went well beyond the prescribed distance of seven innings, as Hartsfield nor Rebel pitcher Caden Lemons yielded much in the way of opportunity all day.
Both pitchers were forced out of the game only by their pitch counts – once pitchers reach 120 pitches in a game, they must be removed.
“We’d have been out here for 20 innings if somehow those guys never wore out,” Irons said. “That was impressive to watch.”
In Hartsfield’s 9 2/3 scoreless innings, he allowed just one hit and one walk as he struck out 11 hitters. Lemons gave up three hits and walked five hitters in his 10 scoreless frames.
Vestavia finally put a dent in the scoreboard in the 11th inning, with Ross Covington coming into score on a wild pitch.
Oak Mountain answered with a run of its own in the 11th to extend the game, as JJ McDonald singled to score Ethan Holsombeck, who hit a double in the previous at-bat.
The Rebels finished the game off with a big 12th inning. Colton Bellsnyder drove home a run with a single, and Drew Stockton’s bases-loaded walk made it 3-1. But the next batter, Andrew Knight, planted a ball into the trees beyond the left field fence for a grand slam, catapulting Vestavia to the 7-1 edge and the eventual victory.
Being forced to bounce back and force Game 3 – which will be at 5 p.m. on Monday – has become an old habit for the Rebels. They were forced to sweep a doubleheader against Thompson in the final area series, and came back after losing the first game to Sparkman in the first round last week to win in walk-off fashion in Game 3.
“We have lived with our backs against the wall all year long,” Harris said.
As for Game 3, the Rebels will go with Josh Stevens, who went five innings in the third game against Sparkman last week. Oak Mountain has not announced a starting pitcher for the contest.
“We’ve used several different guys the last few weeks, so I do think we’ve got a handful of guys that will be ready to do whatever needs to be done,” Irons said.
The winner will advance to face Hoover in the semifinals next week, after the Bucs swept Grissom on Saturday.