Cox Mill – 1        Alexander Central – 5

Alexander Central worked around base runners for most of the night but came up big when it counted, advancing to the 3A West Regional Semifinal with a 5-1 win over Cox Mill. 

Alexander Central ace, Bryson Hammer has legitimate top end stuff, punching 10 in the outing, but his control continued to open the door for Cox Mill with only 1 hit, but drawing 8 walks.  Cox Mill could not come through and Hammer continually made big pitches in his 5.2 innings of work.

Scoreless into the bottom of the 3^rd, Alexander Central used a Jacob Bebber double and a Byron Younts RBI single to take the early 1-0 lead.  Cox Mill would answer in the 5^th.   Hammer walked two and with runners on 1^st and 2^nd, he threw two passed balls, allowing Cam Lowke to score and tie the game.

In the bottom half of the inning, Alexander’s Stikeleather would be hit by a pitch, then proceed to steal 2B and 3B.  Younts would come through again with a single scoring Stikeleather.  The following hitter, Seth Sigmon, deposited an 0-1 breaking ball over the right-center field wall, moving the lead to 4-1.

In the 6^th Alexander would add a final insurance run as Kade Smith reached on an error.  A SAC bunt and ground ball would move Smith to 3B where another infield error scored him.

Dawson Elder came on in relief of Hammer as he reached his pitch count, working the final 1.1 innings, striking out 3 in the save.

Alexander Central advances to the Regional Semifinal where they will host No. 10 seed Marvin Ridge HS, scheduled for this Friday.

 

Cox Mill Highlights: