Infignos Media - Oxford edges Pell City 2-1 in 10 innings

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Oxford edges Pell City 2-1 in 10 innings

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Pell City Panthers dropped a heartbreaker to archrival Oxford 2-1 in 10 innings on Tuesday.

Oxford head coach Wesley Brooks knew the game was going to be close. He even went as far as predicting the score and inning the game was going to finish in before the first pitch was thrown.

“[Cole] Billingsley is going to South Alabama, Tucker is going to Florida and Jackson is going to Alabama,” Oxford head coach Wesley Brook said. “They are very good SEC and Sun Belt teams. You had a feeling that it was going to be a 1-0 game. I thought the run in the first inning cost us. I thought it was going to a 1-0 game because he was throwing so well. It was obviously a one-run game like we thought. I told the umpire at home plate that it was going to be 2-1 in 10 innings. When I made that last substitution he said ‘You called, it 2-1 in 10 innings.’ I said we haven’t finished the 10th yet. You expect a game like that when you have two pitchers like that throwing. We cant be too satisfied, we have to go and regroup. We get them at our place for a double header Friday.”

Alabama commit Matthew Goodson was the hero for the Yellow Jackets in the 10th inning. The senior came through in the clutch to deliver a single to centerfield to score Thomas Taylor from second base to make it 2-1.

“He signed with Alabama too,” Brooks said. “You almost could feel that he was going to get a hit right there, because their pitcher was out and their No. 3 pitcher was in. He got a line drive to center and it was a close play at the plate.”

Stephens sealed the victory for the Yellow Jackets by striking out two of the four batters he faced in the inning.

“We kept it close, that’s what we wanted to do,” Pell City head coach Andrew Tarver said. “We knew they had some guys that threw really hard and were some good pitchers. I think we competed well, we battled at the plate the best we could. I wish it could have turned out a little different for our guys, but somebody has to win. We just have to go in, regroup and get ready for Friday.”

Pell City had a chance to win the game in the ninth inning, but poor base running and a questionable call ended their chances of scoring.

Dylan Calhoun led the inning off with an infield single. Calhoun moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Jared Brasher.

Salter hit ground ball to the shortstop, but Calhoun was tagged out as he attempted to advance to third base.

The Panthers still had a chance to end the game with Sam Grimes up at bat. Salter stole second base to get into scoring position. Grimes hit a shot to the second baseman who was unable to receive the ball cleanly.

Grimes hustled down the first base line – the second baseman was finally able to get the ball and throw it to the first baseman close to the same time Grimes stepped on the first base bag. Grimes was called out to the dismay of the Panthers coaches as well as the home crowd. If Grimes had been called safe the Panthers would have won the game due to Salter coming home from second base.

The Panthers were able to get a lead in the bottom of the first inning. Casey Seals got things going with a two out triple. Seals scored a few pitches later on a pass ball to make it 1-0.

Billingsley did everything he could in nine innings of action to give the Panthers an opportunity to win.

The senior struck out 11 batters, which included several to end Oxford’s scoring threats.

In the fourth inning the Yellow Jackets had a runner on third with one out. Alex Jones caught a rocket that was hit to him and he almost threw out the runner going back to first base. Billingsley did the rest as he struck out the next batter.

“Cole gets fired up for Oxford just like we will be when we go up there on Friday,” Tarver said. “Cole has done it time in and time out against those guys for the last two years. The ball just didn’t roll our way tonight. We will take care of it and get ready for Friday.”

Simpson got out of a bases loaded situation in the bottom half of the inning by striking out three straight batters.

In the fifth inning Russell McCracken hit a single to right field to score William Davis from second base to tie the game up at 1-1.

Oxford had a chance to win the game in the seventh inning. With a runner on first base, Taylor hit the ball to Billingsley. The South Alabama commit bobbled the ball before throwing the runner out a first. The first base then tried to throw the runner out a third, but the throw was to high and it went into left field.

Logan Dobbs picked up the baseball out of left field and threw a perfect strike to Seals who was able to take the contact and tag the runner out at home.

The I-20 rivals meet up again on Friday at 5 p.m. in Oxford for a double header.

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Keywords: Oxford, Pell City, coach, Wesley Brooks,

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