Valley, AL - In a highly-anticipated pitching matchup in the state of Alabama, both arms didn't disappoint for Smiths Station or Valley. The Panthers trotted out RHP Jacob Blackmon (No. 58, Northwest Florida State College), while the Rams gave the ball to LHP Jackson Sanders (No. 1, Auburn) to make his debut on the mound in 2021. Scoring was hard to come by in the early innings, but Smiths Station broke the game open in the later innings to win 9-0.

Neither team could get the first run of the game across in the first 2 innings of play, and credit that to both arms on the mound. Sanders, the No. 1 freshman in the country, fought his way through an experienced and veteran lineup during his outing. His fastball worked up to 90 mph in the 1st inning and didn't issue a walk through 3 1/3. On the other side, Blackmon tossed four scoreless frames to earn the win. He reached 92 mph in the 1st and maintained 88-90 mph throughout his outing.

Smiths Station was able to push across a run in the top of the 3rd to make it 1-0. After singles from SS Logan Collins (No. 31, Wofford) & C Ellis Yohn (No. 68, Tennessee-Martin) and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases, Collins was able to score from 3rd base with two outs and two strikes on a passed ball.

The Panthers were able to tack on another run in the 5th inning, when C Luke Hasty (No. 74, Central Alabama CC) scored a runner on a RBI groundout to extend the lead to 2-0. Smiths Station furthered their lead even more in the 6th & 7th innings from capitalizing on a few errors to make the final score 9-0 at the end.

 

Top Performers - Smiths Station

SS Logan Collins - 3-5, RBI, 2 R's, SB

RHP Jacob Blackmon - 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB's & 6 K's

C Ellis Yohn - 2 1B's

C Luke Hasty - 2 1B's, R

OF Caden Hare - 2 RBI's

OF Jason Tharpe - 1B, RBI, R

 

Top Performers - Valley

LHP/OF Jackson Sanders - 3.1 IP, 4 H's, 0 ER, 0 BB & 4 K's; 1B

UTL Will Kennedy - 1B

UTL Ashton Carter - 1B

 

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