By By ROBERT BLANKENSHIP – Managing Editor
The T.R. Miller Tigers completed a dramatic spring break when they went 3-2, scoring a total of 39 runs. The two losses came on the second day of the Gulf Shores Tournament and were both extra inning contests.
T.R. Miller got spring break off to a great start, scoring an 11-3 area win over Clarke County on Friday.
The Tigers traveled to Gulf Shores on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. They defeated Maplesville, 13-5, on Monday; fell 9-7 to Enterprise in the first game they played on Tuesday; fell in extra innings to Briarwood, 6-5, in the second game and came back with a 3-2 victory over Gordo on Wednesday.
The Tigers' overall record stands at 9-3.
T.R. Miller 11, Clarke County 3
The Tigers had a big day at the plate on Friday when they traveled to take on area opponent Clarke County on March 21.
Brad Lannom scored in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Trent Davidson.
Clarke County got on the board in the bottom of the first to tie the game.
Ryan Holland and Eli Cook scored in the second inning as James Martin and Joseph Turner each got RBIs.
The Tigers increased their lead to 4-1 in the third as Bagwell scored on an RBI single by R. Holland.
Clarke County cut the lead to one, 4-3, after scoring two runs in the third.
From there it was all Tigers. T.R. Miller made the score 7-3 after Lannom, Bagwell and Randy Holland came in to score in the fifth inning.
Trent Davidson delivered the knock-out punch in the sixth inning. Turner and Bagwell where both on base with two outs when Davidson crushed a Clarke County pitch over the outfield fence for a three-run homer.
Kurt Prater scored the final run of the game in the seventh as Martin delivered an RBI double.
Prater got the start on the mound for the Tigers, pitching three innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out three. Alex Granade pitched three innings, giving up no earned runs and striking out one. Davidson completed the game pitching one inning in relief, giving up no earned runs and striking out two batters.
T.R. Miller 13, Maplesville 5
The Tigers fell behind early to Maplesville in the opening game of the Gulf Shores Tournament. But, the Tigers sailed to the win after an eight-run sixth inning.
Maplesville got off to a quick start, scoring two runs in the first inning on a walk and three singles. Maplesville added another run to their lead in the top of the third on a solo homerun.
The Tigers began to get their offense going in the bottom of the third. With one out, Turner earned a walk. He later scored on an error to cut the lead to 3-1.
The bats kept getting hotter as the Tigers entered the fourth inning. Eli Cook led off the inning with a single. Two batters later, Bryan Madden brought Cook home on a base hit, cutting the lead to 3-2.
Turner was hit by a pitch, putting two Tigers on base. Turner stole second and advanced to third on an error as Madden came home to tie the game at 3-3. Brad Lannom followed with a walk and he and Turner scored on a double by Bagwell. Trent Davidson got in on the action as he drove Bagwell home with a single. When the inning came to a close, the Tigers were on top 5-3.
It seemed the Tigers' bats had cooled after a 1-2-3 fourth, but they came right back in the sixth as the first six batters of the inning scored, highlighted by a two-run homer by Lannom.
Turner led off the inning with a single and Lannom followed with his homer. Bagwell earned a walk, followed by a single off the bat of Davidson. The bases were loaded after a walk to Kyle Rush. Bagwell scored after another walk to Kevin Durden. Davidson, Rush, Durden, Kurt Prater each went on to score in the inning and Turner scored his second run of the inning to give the Tigers a 12-3 lead.
Maplesville scored one run in the sixth and one in the seventh before the game came to an end.
Alex Granade went three innings as the starting pitcher, giving up one earned run and striking out five. Ryan Jackson pitched the final four innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out two.
Leading the Tigers at the plate was Davidson who went 3-for-5 with one run and one RBI. Cook and Madden each went 2-for-3.
Enterprise 8, T.R. Miller 7
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead against Enterprise in the second game of the tournament, only to fall in extra innings, 8-7.
The game could not have started better for the Tigers as the first three batters reached base and scored for an early 3-0 lead. Turner led off the bottom of the first with a single. Lannom followed with a double, scoring Turner, and Bagwell earned a walk. Both runners came home on a basehit by Randy Holland.
Enterprise got on the board in the top of the third with two runs, cutting the Tiger lead down to one, 3-2.
The Tigers were quick to stretch the lead back to three after Lannom and Davidson reached in the third. Both runners scored on a double by Randy Holland.
T.R. Miller added another run to their lead in the fourth. James Martin led off the inning with a double and later scored on a groundball, giving the Tigers a 6-2 lead.
Enterprise started to roll in the sixth as they cut the lead down to two, 6-4, after scoring two runs on three consecutive hits. They tied the game in the seventh with two more runs.
The Tigers were unable to put a run on the board in the bottom of the seventh, sending the game into extra innings.
Enterprise started the eighth where they left off in the seventh. A lead-off walk followed by four basehits helped lead Enterprise to three runs.
The Tigers came close to tying the game in the bottom of the inning as James McCracken and Bagwell came around to score. There were runners on second and third when Enterprise got a groundball to end the game.
Randy Holland led the Tigers at the plate going 3-for-5. Lannom went 2-for-5, scoring two runs.
Briarwood 6, T.R. Miller 5
The Tigers dropped their second extra-inning game of the day, 6-5, to Briarwood.
Once again the Tigers got off to a fast start with the first three players scoring. Turner, Lannom and Bagwell each represented runs in the first inning.
Briarwood came back with one run of their own in the bottom of the first and cut the lead to 3-2 with a run in the second.
The Tigers made the score 4-2 after Lannom scored in the top of the third.
But, Briarwood tied the game, 4-4, after a two-run homerun in the bottom of the third.
Pitchers took over from there as the offenses were held in check through regular innings and on into extra innings. The Tigers got things going in the ninth when Lannom scored the go-ahead run.
Down by one, Briarwood came out in the bottom of the ninth and doubled in two runs to earn the victory.
Kurt Prater pitched the complete game for the Tigers, giving up three earned runs and striking out two.
Lannom led the offense, going 2-for-5 with three runs scored.
T.R. Miller 3, Gordo 2
The Tigers got back on the winning track after defeating Gordo in a low-scoring contest that completed the Tigers schedule in the Gulf Shores Tournament.
Just like in previous games, the Tigers got off to a fast start, but were tied entering the final inning when a groundball off the bat of Jacob Salter brought home the winning run.
Turner and Lannom led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles. Davidson drove in both runners with a triple.
The score remained the same until the top of the fourth when Gordo came up with two runs to tie the game.
The game ended in the bottom of the seventh as Randy Holland reached on an error and scored on the groundball by Salter.
Stanley got the start for the Tigers, pitching three innings, giving up no earned runs and striking out two. Granade pitched three innings in relief, giving up two earned runs and striking out one. Lannom completed the game, pitching one inning.
Lannom led the offense, going 2-for-3 with one run scored.