By By ROBERT BLANKENSHIP - Managing Editor
The T.R. Miller Tigers baseball season will continue for at least one more week as they survived round two with a 12-6 victory over Northside High School on Friday.
T.R. Miller found themselves trailing in the game after four innings, but they quickly turned things around, scoring seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings which proved to be enough to eliminate Northside.
With the win the Tigers are set to host Dadeville on Friday. Dadeville advanced by defeating Straughn, 12-0, on Saturday.
T.R. Miller pitcher Trent Davidson held Northside early in Saturday's gam, allowing the Tigers to take an early lead.
Randy Holland was the first Tiger to score. He led off the second inning with a double. He moved to third on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Durden and then scored easily on a basehit by Eli Cook.
Northside broke through against Davidson in the bottom of the third. Jared Lemons scored to tie the game on a basehit by Josh Hood.
The Tigers jumped back into the lead in the top of the fourth. Davidson helped himself out at the plate as he led the inning with a single. He scored on a double by the following batter, Randy Holland. One out later, Holland scored from third on a sacrifice by Cook which gave T.R. Miller a 3-1 advantage.
But, Northside caught fire at the plate in the bottom of the fourth. After the leadoff man was hit by a pitch, Craig Honeycutt took a Davidson pitch over the fence for a two-run homer that tied the game, 3-3. Following the homer, Davidson gave up two walks. With two outs, Brian Howard laced a single, bringing both runners home. The hit gave Northside its first lead of the game, 5-3.
The Tigers did not stay down long. Leading off the fifth inning, Ryan Holland gave the Tigers new life by hitting a Northside pitch over the fence. With one out in the inning, Brad Lannom earned a walk and moved to third on a basehit by Russell Bagwell. Davidson came through at the plate with a sacrifice fly that tied the game, 5-5.
Lannom moved from the shortstop position to the pitcher's mound to relieve Davidson in the bottom of the fifth
Northside captured the lead once again as Lannom got off to a rough start. Northside's Cody Blanchard nailed a double and scored on a single by Honeycutt.
But, that would be all Lannom would give up as he held Northside and allowed his teammates to earn a big advantage.
Building that advantage began in the sixth inning. Kurt Prater led off the inning with a single. After two strikeouts it appeared Northside would make quick work of the Tigers. But, a basehit by Ryan Holland put runners at the corners for the Tigers. Joseph Turner came through with a single to score Prater. Lannom followed with a walk. Then, Russell Bagwell got a hit that brought Holland and Turner home. Bagwell was not on base long as he and Lannom scored on a double from Davidson. After five consecutive two-out hits, Northside finally got the final out of the inning. But, the Tigers had taken a 10-6 lead.
The Tigers added two more runs in the top of the seventh. James Martin and Ryan Holland hit back-to-back two-out doubles which led to the Tigers taking a 12-6 win.
Lannom gave up only one hit in the final two innings to secure the victory.
Davidson pitched four innings, giving up five runs on four hits with one strikeout. Lannom earned the victory in relief, pitching three innings, giving up on run on two hits.
Leading the Tigers at the plate were: Ryan Holland, 3-for-4 with a homerun and three runs scored and two RBIs; Davidson, 2-for-4 with one run scored and three RBIs; Randy Holland, 2-for-4 with two doubles; and Brad Lannom, 1-for-2 with three walks and two runs scored.