VINCENT, Ala. – Head Coach Taylor Craven and the Childersburg Tigers played their most exciting and best baseball game of the early season on Tuesday afternoon when they knocked off the undefeated Vincent Yellow Jackets on the road.
The Tigers started early by smacking three hits in the second inning and scoring Lane Dennis and Jordan Mann, but Vincent showed why they are really good by retaking the lead in the bottom half of the second by scoring three.
Then, in the fourth inning, the two seniors for the Tigers were at it again. A walk by Dennis and three hits by Mann, Tae Truss, and Elijah Swain gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead. Vincent’s Grayson Guild responded with a score in the bottom of the fourth to tie it up at four.
Terrance Roberson for the Tigers and Aiden Poe for Vincent both scored in the fifth inning to knot it up again at five heading to the seventh and last inning.
The Tigers smashed five hits and scored five times in the last to take a 10-5 lead with only three outs to get to give Vincent their first loss of the season.
Childersburg would hang on for a 10-6 victory.
The last six batters in the order for Childersburg were a combined 11-21 for the game.
The Tigers defense stood out as well. No errors in the field, J.D. Oakes with an excellent game behind the plate, and a couple of relays to cut down eventual runs gave the visiting crowd a lot to cheer about.
Pitching was stellar as well with Trent Twymon, Tyler Pope, Jordan Mann, and Payton Tanner combining for the win.
Mann, only 10 days from playing in the state basketball tournament, went 4-4 with two runs scored and Lane Dennis scored three times as well.
Coach Craven was interviewed on the Tiger Sports Network in the postgame and said, “I think we played our most complete game of the year. I can’t say enough about our pitching, and tonight our bats finally woke up against a very good Vincent team with great arms.”
When asked about the Tiger crowd, Craven responded, “They were absolutely fabulous. They are the reason why I used to hate coming and playing Childersburg. They were great!”