Wednesday, March 13

Austin takes advantage of Rebel miscues to extend winning streak

        On a windy night in Vestavia Hills, AL, the Austin Black Bears defeated #4 Vestavia Hills Rebels 8-3 behind some strong pitching and timely hits on offense. ’19 RHP/SS Grayson Throneberry (University of North Alabama signee) got the nod on the mound for the Black Bears and did not disappoint. Throneberry held the Rebels to only 3 runs in 6 IP. The Black Bears struck first in the top of the 2^nd on a RBI ground out to second base from ’19 1B Kulyn Hubbard that scored Parker Nichols who reached on a single to CF to start the inning. Both teams went scoreless in the 3^rd and 4^th innings before Austin struck again for 2 more runs in the top half of the 5^th. The Black Bears got two runners on base via walk and HBP, then Throneberry helped out his own cause by drilling a double over the shortstop’s head and into the LCF gap. Both runners came around to score making it 3-0 in favor of Austin. Vestavia Hills would not go down without a fight, as they answered with 3 runs of their own in the bottom half of that inning to tie the score at 3-3. ’19 2B Eston Hall and ’19 C Wells Dutton started the inning with back-to-back singles, then ’19 SS Ben Saway sent a ball down the LF line that the left fielder dove for and missed, allowing both Hall and Dutton to come around and score to make it 3-2. A few pitches later, ’20 CF Mason Maners drove a ball to the warning track in LF for a sac fly and Saway come home from 3^rd to make it 3-3. Austin then answered quickly in the 6^th with 2 more runs on 2 Rebel errors to regain the lead at 5-3. The Black Bears tacked on 3 more insurance runs in the 7^th. ’20 RHP Parker Nichols came in to close the game for Austin in the bottom of the 7^th to ensure the Black Bear win.

 Notables

-’19 RHP Grayson Throneberry led the charge on the mound and at the plate for the Black Bears. His final line: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB and 7 K’s. His 2 RBI double in the 5^th was also a huge play that helped spark their offense.

-’20 LHP Graham Duncan started the game for Vestavia Hills. He turned in 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB and 2 K’s.

-Vestavia outhit Austin 10-4, but the 2 errors committed in the 6^th proved to be costly. ’19 SS Ben Saway was 2-4 w/ a 1B, 3B and 2 RBI’s. ’20 3B Reece Crenshaw also added 2 hits for the Rebels.

 What’s Next?

Austin will travel down to Prattville, AL to take on Prattville HS on Saturday, March 16^th at 12:00 and 6:00.

Vestavia Hills is slated for a doubleheader at Thompson on Friday, March 15^th at 4:00 and 6:30.

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