The AHSAA
MONTGOMERY – The South All-Stars scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning Monday at Riverwalk Stadium to beat the North All-Stars 7-6 in the first game of the AHSAA North-South Baseball All-Star doubleheader and sealed a 3-3 tie in the second game after wiggling out of a bases-loaded jam in the final inning.
The South, coached by coached by Kyle Hunter of Baldwin County and Zach Blatt of Opelika, had last-inning drama in both games to finish 1-0-1 in the 2021 All-Star doubleheader.
In game two, South MVP Isaac Warrick of Alabama Christian opened the first inning with a lead-off triple and later scored to give his team a 1-0 lead. He pitched three strong innings in relief, striking out five. The South also got strong pitching from starter Thrasher Steed of Gulf Shores and Colton Wood of Faith Academy, who closed out the game striking out two with the bases loaded. The teams did not play extra innings.
Charlie Keller and catcher Grant Jay, both from Mobile Christian, each added a triple for the South. Patrick McGlon of Auburn also had two hits and Colton Wood of Faith Academy had a double.
North MVP Davis Gillespie of Oak Mountain, who pitched well in game one and also had a bases-loaded triple to highlight a five-run rally in stake the North to a 5-0 lead, lead off the bottom of the seventh in game two and advanced to third but was left stranded thanks to Wood’s clutch pitching.
Ben Capps of Gordo also had five strikeouts in three innings of work to highlight the North pitching effort.
The North, coached by Steve Renfroe of Briarwood Christian and Jay Mitchell of Mars Hill Bible, managed five hits in game two. North pitchers allowed only seven South hits.
The North pitching also kept the South hitters under wraps most of game one, but control problems in the seventh inning erased a 6-3 North advantage as the South scored four runs to win.
The South scored the winning run when T.R. Miller infielder Miller Hart raced home from third on a wild pitch with Trinity Presbyterian’s Ben Easterling at the plate for the winning run.
The South also finished with seven hits in game one with Brantley shortstop Tucker Kilcrease collecting two hits and scoring two runs, and G.W. Long infielder Trevor Morris driving in two runs on one hit. Hart also had a single and two hits. Wood Jay each slugged a double.
The four South pitchers, starter Tucker Jackson of Houston Academy, Easterling and Pope combined to scatter six hits and strike out 10 in the opening win.
In addition to the three RBIs by Gillespie, Oxford’s Miguel Mitchell had a single and a RBI, Austin Morris of Mortimer Jordan had a single and a RBI and Parker first baseman Shermaine Hollis had one hit and scored two runs.
The North now leads the series, which was first played in 1997, 23-15-2.