Falcons Fall to Decatur
The Falcons dropped two area
games to Decatur this weekend.
In game one on Friday night
Hayden Woodruff pitched seven
strong innings in a 7-6 loss in
eight innings. Woodruff gave up
7 runs only 3 earned, six hits
and struck out eight. Zack
Jensen led Florence at the plate
with a single, triple and two
RBI. Morgan Wilson and Woodruff
had doubles for the Falcons.
James Irons and Tyler Broaddrick
both had singles. Five errors
cost Florence some crucial runs
early in the game.
Saturday went much like Friday,
when a couple of errors cost
Florence some runs and two
Decatur homeruns. Brantley
Claunch started on the mound for
the Falcons going five innings.
Morgan Wilson took the loss in
relief. With the Falcons leading
going in to the bottom 6th
7-5, Decatur came up with 6runs
on five hits including a three
run homerun to take a 11-5 lead.
Edward Southward led of the game
with a solo homerun. Southward
also had a double along with
Morgan Wilsons three singles.
Jeffrey Sharp and Hayden
Woodruff both had doubles, James
Irons two singles. The Falcons
fell to 7-13 overall and 0-4 in
area. In game three with Decatur
Cameron Sweetwood hit a grand
slam leading the Falcons at the
Plate.
Falcons Win Times Daily Classic
Championship
FLORENCE - With the
TimesDaily Classic championship
hanging in the balance, Florence
junior outfielder Teddy Fisher
chose the perfect time to make
the biggest play of his young
baseball career.
After sitting on the bench for
the first six innings of the
championship game against
Russellville, Fisher was
inserted into the lineup as a
defensive replacement in right
field in the seventh, making
just his third appearance in the
tournament.
With just one out and the
game-winning run standing at
third base, Fisher snagged a
Matthew Duncan fly ball in deep
right field, delivering a
perfect throw to home that
doubled off a tagging Casey
Herring to force extra innings.
Using the huge momentum swing in
their favor, the Falcons reeled
off four runs in the top of the
eighth inning to secure a 9-5
win in a game that featured high
tension, a player ejection and a
scuffle between opposing
parents.
"That's a play we run every
practice, so when I saw the ball
coming my way I knew what I had
to do," Fisher said. "When the
ball got to me I knew I had to
load up and get a strong throw
off. Luckily, it was right on
point."
According to Florence coach Pete
Rodi, Fisher's highlight-reel
play was the perfect cap to a
pretty good tournament.
"I think we learned a lot about
what kind of team we are this
week," he said. "There was stiff
competition in this tournament
and we never backed down. We hit
the ball well all week and we
got strong pitching, but to see
a great defensive play like that
in such a big situation was
nice. It really was a fantastic
play."
Russellville got on the board
first, scoring on a first-inning
RBI single by John Batchlelor.
Florence would score four
unanswered runs to take a 4-1
lead into bottom of the fifth
inning, however, using strong
pitching from starter Morgan
Wilson to keep the Russellville
bats quiet.
"They had been hitting the ball
extremely well coming into
today, so being able to shut
them down was huge," Rodi said.
"Morgan did a fantastic job for
nearly six innings and when he
was done Bradley Claunch came in
and pitched well. Those guys
were pivotal in how the game
turned out."
The Golden Tigers would battle
back to tie the game, however,
getting two runs in the fifth
and two in the seventh to tie
the score at 5-all before
Fisher's heroics sent the game
into an eight inning.
With his pitching staff in rough
shape, Russellville coach David
Ward was forced to turn to
Batchelor in the extra inning,
and the Falcons welcomed him
with a pair of RBI singles from
Wilson and Hudson Riedel and two
unearned runs in the form of a
wild pitch.
"When it mattered the most they
were able to pull it out," Ward
said. "Things got a bit chippy
out there and I was proud of the
way both teams handled the
environment. It was a good,
tough game but in the end we
came up short. Our guys played
hard, though. And that is
something you can't be upset
about."
Riedel finished the game with
three hits and two RBIs for the
Falcons (7-5), while James Irons
added two hits and an RBI.
Claunch got the win for
Florence, tossing two innings
and allowing three runs while
striking our four.
Nathan Vincent had two hits,
including an RBI triple, in the
loss for Russellville.
