Hartselle advances with sweep of Lee

By By Todd Thompson
Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle used a power surge that featured four highlight quality homers to sweep Lee in the first round of the Class 5A baseball playoffs Friday night at Reuben Sims Field.
Ryan Joy homered twice, while Robby Reece and Logan Cain added home runs as the Tigers beat the Generals 14-4 and 13-3 to advance to a second round matchup with East Limestone in Hartselle.
The sweep was Hartselle’s sixth-straight playoff sweep dating to the first round of the 2009 post-season.
Hartselle had 12 hits in the opening win, scoring 12 unanswered runs to break a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning.
Joy finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs in the opening win.
Reece added three RBIs after going 3-for-4 at the plate.
Tres Austin picked up the win for the Tigers after striking out 10 batters in six innings.
Lee scored twice in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 2-2 with a homer by Brandyn Crutcher.
Hartselle scored five times in the fourth inning and broke the game open with 12 runs over three innings to pull away for the win.
The Tigers had four hits in the bottom of the fourth inning. Chase Hall, Reece, Drew Cowan and Cain all had hits for Hartselle in the inning.
Joy had an RBI single in the fifth and Reece followed with a 2-run homer - his eighth of the season - to push the Tigers’ lead to 10-2.
Joy hit his second homer of the night to cap the Tigers’ sixth inning to end the game by the 10-run rule.
In the second game, Lee took a 2-1 lead in the third inning with an error and an RBI single.
Hartselle took the lead for good in the top of the fourth inning with three runs off two hits. Cain hit a solo homer and Hall added a 2-run double.
Reece was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to cap the scoring.
Hartselle added four more runs in the fifth inning. Cowan doubled and scored on a wild pitch and Cain walked and scored on an error.
Mac Hendrix hit into a fielder’s choice to score Andrew Hampton.
The final run came on a sacrifice fly by Joy that made it 8-2.
In the sixth inning, Hendrix hit a two-run single, Reece drove in two runs with a double and Jackson Reeves tripled to score a run.
Lee tacked on one more run in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer by Crutcher, but Austin Reeves ended the game by getting the Generals to hit into a double play and striking out the final batter.
Riland Blankenship earned the win for the Tigers after limiting Lee to two runs over three innings.
Reeves struck out two in two innings and Ethan Howell closed out the game in the sixth inning.