Thursday Baseball Roundup: Spanish Fort, Central-Phenix City advance
DJ Eurgil pitched Spanish Fort into the Class 6A championship series Thursday night.
Eurgil, the team’s No. 3 starter, threw 116 pitches – even coming back after an extended rain delay – and helped the Toros to a 9-6 win over No. 5 Stanhope Elmore in Game 3 of their best-of-three Class 6A semifinal series.
The sixth-ranked Toros (29-17) will play top-ranked Oxford for the title.
Eurgil allowed nine hits and six runs, though only two were earned. He struck out seven and walked two.
Trailing 3-0, Spanish Fort erupted for five runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead. After a rain delay, the Mustangs (30-7) tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth before the Toros plated four in the sixth to take the lead for good.
Pierce Dutton, Newton Gardner and Brayden Cooper all had two RBIs for Spanish Fort. In addition to pitching a complete game, Eurgil also had two hits. Stanhope was led by Zach Stevens and Evan Duncan with two hits each. Chase Williams had two RBIs. Tyler Woodham took the loss in relief.
Spanish Fort will be looking for its fifth state title next week. The Toros last won the championship in 2014 in Class 5A.
Oxford 11-5, Cullman 0-3
Top-ranked Oxford will get to play for a state title, at least partially, in its home park.
The Yellow Jackets swept Cullman on Thursday and will play No. 6 Spanish Fort next week for the 6A state title.
Game 1 is set for 4 p.m. Tuesday at Oxford’s Choccolocco Park. Games 2, and 3 if necessary, will be at Jacksonville State.
The Yellow Jackets (37-6) pounded out 10 hits in the opener and got a one-hit, five-inning pitching performance from Hayes Harrison. The senior struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter.
Tide Gann was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Nick Richardson was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Carter Johnson and Drew McCormick had two hits each. Riley Jackson had the only hit for Cullman. Starter Easton Peed took the loss.
Oxford built a 4-0 lead in the second game before holding off a Bearcat rally. Johnson was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Sam Robertson had two RBIs. Zane Watwood homered for Cullman.
CLASS 7A
Central-Phenix City 8-8, Smiths Station 4-1
Central-Phenix City will have a chance to defend its state title after sweeping area rival Smiths Station.
The Red Devils (33-9) pounded out 12 hits in Game 1 and won despite five errors.
Preston Bedford, Cason Page and Emory Yohn all had two hits. Brantley Rothrock earned the win with 3.1 innings of two-hit relief. He struck out four. Jake Middleton took the loss for the Panthers.
Central added nine more hits in the second game, breaking it open with three runs in the fifth and three more in the seventh. Carson Gilley, Jax Yoxtheimer and Colton Wombles each had two hits. Hunter Wippert had two RBIs.
Yoxtheimer pitched six innings of three-hit ball to get the win. He struck out three and walked four. Wippert pitched the final inning. Khristian Hill took the loss for Smiths, going all seven innings. He was also 3-for-3 at the plate.
The Red Devils will play either Thompson or Vestavia Hills for the championship. The Warriors won the first game of that series on Thursday, but the second was pushed to Friday due to rain.
The 7A title series starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Oxford’s Choccolocco Park.
THURSDAY’S SCORES
CLASS 7A
Central-Phenix City 8-8, Smiths Station 4-1, Central-Phenix City (33-9) advances
Thompson 11, Vestavia Hills 1, Game 1 (Game 2 ppd. to Friday, DH if necessary)
CLASS 6A
Spanish Fort 9, Stanhope Elmore 6, Spanish Fort (29-16) advances
Oxford 11-5, Cullman 0-3, Oxford (37-6) advances
CLASS 4A
Etowah 2, St. John Paul II 1, Etowah (27-11) advances
UMS-Wright 11, Bayside Academy 4, UMS-Wright (27-12) advances