Red Level Tigers whip Jaguars
Published 12:00 am Monday, March 3, 2003
Junior Neal Snider put together a strong pitching performance and got tons of support from the Red Level batting order Friday as the Tigers earned an 11-1 win against the visiting Hillcrest Jaguars in high school baseball action.
Snider started the game on the mound and pitched all five innings as the Tigers earned the win in the bottom of the fifth inning via the 10-run mercy rule. He allowed one run on seven hits and one walk. He also hit one batter, but for the most part he threw strikes and ended the game with eight strikeouts.
The Tigers batter also had a big day from start to finish.
In the bottom of the first inning, Red Level scored two runs for an early 2-0 lead. Kyle Adams started the Red Level half of the inning by reaching on an error when the shortstop mishandled the ball. He was retired when Russell Rigdon followed him in the order and hit a ground ball back to the pitch which resulted in a force out at second.
Rigdon reached first on the fielder's choice and moved to second on a passed ball. He scored moments later when Chaz Maloy came through with an RBI-double. Maloy hustled to third on the throw home. He scored when Cody Warren grounded out to the second baseman. The inning ended when Snider struck out.
The Red Level hurler did not get his head down and went out and struck out two Hillcrest Jaguars in the top of the second inning. The Jags had runners on first and third with two outs when Snider slammed the door by striking out a Hillcrest batter to end the threat.
The Tigers roared in the bottom of the second inning scoring four runs to increase the lead to 6-0.
Dusty Lee reached base on a one-out bunt single, stole second, advanced to third via a balk and scored on a wild pitch after Kyle Skipper drew a walk. Skipper went to second base on the wild pitch and scored on a two out, RBI-single by Adams. Adams moved to second on another balk by the Hillcrest pitcher and scored on a RBI-double by Rigdon. Rigdon came around to score on a RBI-single by Maloy.
The Tigers added one run to the lead in the bottom of the third inning when Joseph Harper was hit by a pitch to reach first. He moved to second when Lee drew a walk. He went to third on a throwing error by the catcher and scored when Skipper grounded out to the second baseman.
Hillcrest scored its only run of the game in the top of the fourth inning on two hits, but left runners on first and second as Snider pitched his way out of a jam.
The Tigers clawed out three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to increase the lead to 10-1.
Adams, Rigdon and Maloy scored in the inning on one hit, two walks and a ground out. Warren earned a RBI in the frame.
Snider went back out on the mound for Red Level in the top of the fifth inning as the temperature began to drop with the sun slowly setting in the west behind home plate. He did not seem to be bothered by the cooler temperatures striking out two batters in the inning.
The Tigers added one run in the bottom of the fifth inning to record an 11-1 win via the mercy rule.
Frank Tolbert scored the game-winning run as a pinch runner for Skipper. Skipper reached base on a walk. Tolbert came in and moved to second on an error. He sprinted to third when Justin Griggs grounded out to the pitcher. Tolbert scored when Adams, who reached base on a walk, intentionally got caught in a rundown between first and second on a stolen base attempt. Once Tolbert's foot hit the
plate for the winning run, Adams pulled up and let himself be tagged out.
Red Level returns to the diamond today with games against Florala. A junior varsity game is slated for 11 a.m. with the varsity squads scheduled to square off at 1 p.m.