By By Adam Robinson – sports editor
Just as in the first match-up between the host T.R. Miller Tigers and the visiting W.S. Neal Eagles, pitching was the dominant item.
Friday night's double-header, although not the same intensity and dominance as the first, did not disappoint as Neal and Miller split the area game by identical 3-2 scores.
The Eagles took game one, the area counter, by the score of 3-2, and the Tigers took game two, the tie-breaker, 3-2 in the nightcap.
With the split, W.S. Neal improved 9-8 and 2-0 in area play, and the Tigers fell to 5-10 and to 2-2 in area play.
W.S. Neal beat Andalusia in their first area game, but Andalusia took the tiebreaker. T.R. Miller split with Andalusia, losing the first and taking the tiebreaker, and then winning two from Hillcrest.
William Shell took the win for the Eagles in game one, and James Hamric took the loss for the Tigers.
Shell went seven innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and walked three, while striking out 12.
Hamric went seven innings in the loss and allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits and walked one and struck out 10.
In game two, Tyler Cross for W.S. Neal and Sam Sharpe for the Tigers dueled against each other with Sharpe taking the win.
Sharpe went seven innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits while walking three and striking out 10.
Cross went six and two-thirds innings and allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits, while walking three and striking out eight.
That is 40 strikeouts in two games for all pitchers and just four earned runs and 10 walks and 16 hits.
“I thought James threw well in the first game, and we just left to many men on the bases,” T.R. Miller Tiger head coach Jim Hart said. “We are not helping by not scoring runs. We struggled to get hits, and Shell does a good job pitching and did a great job tonight. I thought Sam (Sharpe) did an excellent job changing speeds in the second game, and he did outstanding. We hit better, and I think that we finally came through and maybe we can go from here with that.”
In game one, the Eagles struck first with a run in the top of the inning as Shell singled to score Cross who reached on a hit by pitch and advanced on a Tiger error.
The Tigers responded with a run of their own in like fashion as Wes Dickey walked, advanced on an error and scored on a single by Will Waters to tie the game at 1-1.
In the second inning, the Eagles took a 2-1 lead when Johnson singled, stole second and reached third on a passed ball.
Johnson scored on another Tiger error to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth inning, the Eagles claimed a 3-1 lead when Aaron Nelson singled home Tyler Brown, who reached on a walk and stole second.
The Tigers cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Cody Swain singled to score Sam Sharpe, who reached on a walk.
That would be the last runs of the night for either team as the Eagles held on for the one-run win.
Shell was 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Reid Johnson was 1-for-3.
Aaron Nelson was 2-for-3 with one RBI for the Eagles.
For the Tigers, Will Waters finished 1-for-2 with a RBI, and Chris Griffin was 2-for-3. Swain finished 1-for-3 with a RBI.
In game two, with the game tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh and two outs, things looked like the game was heading for some d