Bob Jones sweeps Huntsville, Patriots are in the final four
HUNTSVILLE- For the second week in a row Bob Jones defeated an SEC bound pitcher and advanced in the Class 7A playoffs. Friday night it was Huntsville High ace and Mississippi St. signee Christian MacLeod.
Huntsville faced a must-win game two with MacLeod on the mound after Bob Jones won a high-scoring game one 15-7.
Bob Jones never trailed in either game and handed Huntsville an 11-3 loss in game 2.
“I didn’t think we would score that many against MacLeod, he’s a great pitcher,” said Bob Jones coach Jared Smith. “We had a good gameplan against him to try to hit the fastball. The home run in the first inning by Daly set the tone. We have seen six SEC pitchers all year so we weren’t scared of him. We put the ball in play, chipped around enough, stole some bases, hit three home runs and Dylan Ray put the game away.”
Bob Jones Head Baseball coach Jared Smith
MacLeod pitched into the sixth inning and was relieved after throwing 115 pitches, the final one with the bases loaded Dylan Ray crushed deep into the night over the left field fence landing on the roof of the school cafeteria.
John Michael Riley came on to pitch the final outs after Austin East threw six plus innings and gave up only two runs. East is now 2-0 in two playoff starts.
Huntsville found out early in both games what they were up against as Bob Jones homered in the first inning in both games.
In game two, Mitch Daly stunned the crowd when he went yard down the left field line with Caden Rose on first. The lead held up as rightfielder Colton Carver made a nice catch to get out of the second.
East pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the third. Bob Jones went to work again as Caden Rose beat out a bunt and stole a base. Huntsville intentionally walked Daly to get to Dylan Ray. Ray smacked a double past the third baseman for two runs and a 4-1 lead. Slate Alford added a solo home run that landed on Bob Wallace Avenue.
Bob Jones broke the game open in the sixth as they loaded the bases. Rose and Daly worked MacLeod for walks to force in runs before Ray’s blast.
In game one, Bob Jones scored five runs off Matt Dailey in the first inning.
Smith again had Bob Jones aggressive on the base paths.
“McLeod and Dailey want to get up there and pitch. They don’t want to deal with the run game or bunts so we tried to make them uncomfortable. We had some bunts, double steals, and it paid off tonight. We didn’t want them to pound the strike zone and strike us out 15 times.”
MacLeod did have 11 strikeouts and Bob Jones only had five hits until the seven run sixth.
In game one John Michael Riley hit a grand slam off the scoreboard. Slate Alford later hit a home run as Bob Jones scored five runs in the fourth inning. The Patriots got production from the bottom of the order with Colten Carver, Stuart Edge and Ben Crawford all night. Rose and Cam Hill each had two hits and three RBI in game one. Rose got the win going four plus innings in relief of Cam Hill.
Dylan Ray bounced back with run producing hits after two strikeouts in game two.
“We had faith in him,” Smith said. “I talked to him after the strikeouts and he had a better approach and it really paid off. He’s just a sophomore but our young guys are like veterans now. Our kids are hungry. They want to get to Montgomery.”
It is the first time since 2001 a Bob Jones baseball team has made it this far in the playoffs.
Playing for a state championship is now within their grasp. Only Hewitt-Trussville stands in the way. And the Patriots are at home.
