By By Adam Robinson
Sports Editor
The W.S. Neal baseball team improved their record to 3-4 over the weekend. The Eagles split games on Saturday with an 11-6 loss to tournament champion Escambia County and and a win over rival T.R. Miller 1-0. The win for the Eagles came in the final game and lasted nine innings.
W.S. Neal 1, T.R. Miller 0 - 9 innings
It may have been the final game of the tournament for both teams, but both saved their best for last as the Eagles and the Tigers combined for eight innings of shut out ball. Thanks, in part, to brilliant pitching performances by starting pitchers William Shell for W.S. Neal and Derek Busby for T.R. Miller.
Shell went the complete game for the Eagles and earned the win as he went nine innings striking out 19 Tigers, two hits, three walks and no runs.
Busby went seven innings for the Tigers and earned the no decision. Busby had 15 strikeouts, no hits, three walks and no runs. James Hamric took the loss for the Tigers as he went two innings, struck out six, allowed one hit and one run.
While Shell did his part on the mound, it was Aaron Nelson's single that scored Tyler Brown for the winning run in the top of the ninth.
With one out, Brown was hit by Hamric's pitch and then stole second base. It was then that Nelson hit the single to score Brown to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers had their chance in the bottom of the inning serving as host team in the game. Corey Williams led off the inning with a hit by pitch as Garrett Robinson sacrifice bunt sent Williams to second.
From there it was all Shell as he struck out the remaining two Tigers for the 1-0 win.
The win improved Neal to 3-4 on the year and 1-2 in the tournament. T.R. Miller fell to 0-3 on the season and 0-3 on the year.
Shell, Busby and Hamric combined for 40 strikeouts in the game, three hits, six walks, and one run.
Chris Griffin and Seth Holland got hits for the Tigers as Nelson's hit was the only one for the Eagles.
Both pitchers had great games and both teams had opportunities early to score runs.
In the top of the first, W.S. Neal left a runner at second base and in the bottom of the inning, the Tigers loaded the bases but scored no runs.
In the top of the second inning, W.S. Neal threatened to score again as the Eagles placed runners on first and third with no outs, but a pickoff at home costs the Eagles.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Tigers had a runner at third base with no outs, but was unable to score him. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Griffin and Holland were at first and third for the Tigers and then second and third with one out, but failed to score.
W.S. Neal 6, Escambia County 11
The tournament host Eagles got an early wake up call Saturday morning as they opened the tournament with a 10 a.m. game against the Blue Devils from Atmore.
In their first game of the tournament against T.R. Miller, the Blue Devils exploded for a nine-run sixth inning to take a 14-3 win over the Tigers.
In their game against W.S. Neal, the Blue Devils repeated that nine-run explosion with a nine-run third inning against the Eagles to take a 10-3 lead after three innings of play en route to an 11-6 win.
With the loss, the Eagles fell to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the tournament as Atmore improved to 2-0 in the tournament needing only a win over Flomaton to take the tournament championship.
Tyler Cross got the start on the mound for the Eagles and took the loss. Cross went six innings allowing 11 hits, two walks, and 11 runs. Cross struck out for Blue Devils in the loss.
Cross was 2-for-4 at the plate for the Eagles with one run scored. William Shell, Jake Cannon, Tyler Brown, Aaron Nelson, Reid Johnson, and Tyler Nall all had singles in the game as Nelson had two RBIs in the game along with Cannon and Brown's one each.
The Eagles got on the board in the top of the second inning when Nelson's grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Nall.
Nall had reached on a single and advanced to second on a Blue Devil error. A sacrifice bunt by Brown pushed Nall to third.
In the third, a leadoff walk by Wesley Booker and a bunt single by Cross put runners at first and second with one out.
A Shell single loaded the bases as Cannon sacrificed to score and give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
The Eagles took a 3-1 lead when Cross was able to score after a throwing error by the Escambia County catcher.
After the nine-run inning by the Blue Devils gave them a 10-3 lead, W.S. Neal cut the lead to 10-6 in the fifth inning after the Eagles loaded the bases with two outs and a Brown walk scored Cross to cut the lead to 10-4. A single by Nelson scored two to get the Eagles within 10-6.
Atmore would add a run in the bottom half of the sixth inning to hold on for the 11-6 win.
W.S. Neal will be back in action on March 7 when they host Central for a 4 p.m. home game.