Moving On

In a story that could be reprinted just about every year at this time, the Ranburne Bulldogs and Hokes Bluff Eagles are moving on.  Both baseball teams, which should come as no surprise, are advancing to play in the semi-final rounds of their respective classifications this weekend.

The Eagles advanced fairly easily with a two-game sweep of Winfield.  In the double-header, Hokes Bluff outscored the Pirates 28-4 to earn the right to play in their 6th straight semi-final round.  They will face off with Plainview this weekend for the right to play for the Class 3A state championship.  Plainview got here thanks to consecutive sweeps of Wellborn and West Limestone.

For Ranburne, things weren’t quite as easy.  Taking on perennial power Phil Campbell, the Bulldogs, playing with a vastly different lineup than in years past, got the best of the Bobcats in the first and 3rd game of the series.  [Highlights of this series are on the front page.]

Head coach Bart Young will take his team across the state to play Mars Hill Bible in a series starting this Friday.  Mars Hill should pose a great test.  The dual-threat of Jordan Abrams, a stocky fire-baller, and teammate Mark Van Horn will make life difficult for the Bulldogs lineup.

At the plate, Abrams and Jonathan Florida possess solid power. 

END OF THE LINE

While Ranburne and Hokes Bluff punched their tickets with wins, two teams from the area are at the end of the line despite valiant efforts.  The Childersburg Tigers dropped both games on Friday night to Jackson.  The pitching that pretty much carried the defending 4A champs throughout the regular season gave up 21 runs combined.  The Tigers finish the year 23-10 after losing 6 college players from a year ago.

On the road at East Limestone, the Saks Wildcats were also swept [9-4, 11-9].  The Wildcats finish one game shy of their 20th win of the season.