Northview edges Andalusia 2-1 in baseball action Tuesday

Andalusia baseball coach Tyler Dent said playing good ball teams enhances the caliber of play on the field.

The Bulldogs did that and a little more Tuesday night in a 2-1 loss to Class 6A Northview at AHS.

“It was a good ball game all around,” Dent said. “Like I told them, it’s amazing how everything is magnified so much when you play a good ball team.

“I think we did a good job as a team,” he said. “I think we got this thing going in the right direction, and if we put this thing together as a team and not be selfish, then we got a chance to do something special.”

Andalusia wasn’t playing timid during its second meeting with the Cougars last night. The Bulldogs fell 10-1 to NHS in Dothan on March 8.

With strong pitching from seven different pitchers, the Bulldogs kept the Dothan team off balance all night long, allowing only five hits.

Behind the excellent pitching, AHS stepped it up on defense as it made key force outs, two of which came in the sixth inning.

Northview got on board with two outs in the second inning. Hunter Leger was walked after the first two batters were retired on fly outs.

Cody Cox followed with a blooper to right, and Drew Roselius singled Leger in on a 1-and-1 count.

Braden Olive scored the Cougars’ second run on an error in the top of the fifth after walking with one out.

Andalusia cut the game to one in the sixth when Brandon Smith, who reached on an error, scored on another error committed by Leger.

Dent said his pitchers did “well.”

“Our pitchers threw well all night, and their pitchers threw well all night,” he said.

Olive threw three innings and allowed no runs on one hit while striking out two; Ben Swicord struck out two in one inning; Tanner Ross allowed no runs on two hits in one inning; and Carson Hall allowed one run on no hits and struck out two in two innings of work for the Cougars.

Andalusia’s Justin Scherzinger was the only pitcher who faced three separate batters during his outing in the seventh. Jud Rogers allowed one hit in the sixth; Evans Barnes allowed on run on no hits in the fifth; Ross Graham struck out one in the fourth; Brayden Burkhardt allowed on hit in the third; Quinton Maddox allowed one run on two hits and one walk in the second; and Daniel Henderson struck out one while allowing one hit in the first.

Dent said he threw all seven pitchers for two different reasons.

“One, to give them a different look each inning,” he said. “They’re a really, really good ball team. (NHS) Coach (Lee) Nall and (former AHS coach and NHS assistant) coach (Jonathan) Rasberry — they do a really good job out there. I also wanted to get those guys some work. We’ve got a big area weekend coming up. They all did their job.”

Olive, Leger, Roselius and Turner Vincent had one hit each for the Cougars.

Andalusia’s Peyton Maddox, Burkhardt and Rogers had one hit each for the Bulldogs (14-8).

In junior varsity action, the Bulldogs lost 12-1 in five innings.

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Friday against Monroe County for a single area game. It will be senior night for AHS.