Tuesday, March 12

Hoover holds on late to give Vestavia their first loss of the season.    

   Hoover and Vestavia Hills squared off last night in a battle between two of the top ranked programs in the state, with Hoover coming out on top 5-3. Both teams showcased great arms. 2019 RHP Cole Baker (Ole Miss signee) was on the mound for Hoover. He gave the Bucs 3.1 good innings, giving up 2R (1ER), 3H, and 3BB while striking out 5. Hoover turned to the combination of 2020 RHP Colson Lawrence and 2019 Daniel Swatek to close out the game, with Swatek throwing the last 1.2 innings to pick up the save. Lawrence relied heavily on his breaking ball, while Swatek relied mainly on his fastball, running it into the mid to upper 80’s.

  Vestavia countered with 2021 RHP Grant Cherry. Cherry struggled at times with command, but flashed elite top-end stuff, with his fastball sitting in the upper 80’s and topping out at 91. He threw 3 innings, allowing 4R (0ER), while giving up 2H and 3BB. 2020 RHP Eli Sawyer threw the last 4 innings of the game for the Rebels, allowing just 1 ER in his first inning of work before putting up 3 straight zeros to end the game. He worked his fastball up to 87 and struck out 4, allowing 4H and no walks.

   Hoover got the scoring started in the top of the 2^nd, taking advantage of 2 Rebel errors and 2 walks to push across 4 unearned runs. Lawrence Hammonds (2020, #54) drove in 1 on a single up the middle and Robby Ashford (2020, #6) drove in 2 with a hard double down the left field line. The Bucs would add 1 more run in the 4^th as they strung together 3 straight singles with 2019 Peyton Wilson (Alabama signee) collecting an RBI single.

    Vestavia answered back in the bottom of the 4^th with two runs of their own, taking advantage of Hoover miscues including an error, a walk, and 2 bases loaded HBP’s. The Rebels threatened again in the home half of the 7^th, rallying to score 1 and load the bases with 2 outs. On a full count pitch, Swatek got the Rebels leadoff hitter, who already had two hits on the night, to fly out to center to end the game.

Vestavia top performers

Ben Saway (2019) – 2-5

Eric Schroeder (2019) – 2-4

Ben Murphee (2019) – 1-3, BB, RBI

Grant Cacace (2019) – 1-1, 2BB, 1HBP, 1RBI

 

Hoover top performers

Robby Ashford (2020) – 2-4, 2B, 2RBI, SB

Peyton Wilson (2019) – 2-3, 2B, RBI, IBB

Lawrence Hammonds (2020) – 1-3, RBI

 

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