BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

All five County teams in the first round of the playoffs were sent home after a rough weekend on the diamond.  Red Level and Straughn didn't make it to Saturday as both were knocked out after two games.  Defending Champ Leroy took care of the Tigers 10-0; 17-7 as Red Level tried to end the 2A title reign from the Bears.

The young Straughn squad faced Clarke County and also ran up against a hot team igniting the Tigers for 31 runs in two games (13-3; 18-1).

Andalusia, Opp and Pleasant Home made it to Saturday and forced a decisive game three, but no team made it out of the first round matchups.

Jackson took care of the Bulldogs and 4A Elmore County travelled to Opp and ended the Bobcats season.  Pleasant Home saw their season end for the second straight year in Dothan as 1A Private School Providence Christian took care of the Eagles in game three.  

Bulldogs make playoff spot

Andalusia swept Hillcrest-Evergreen yesterday and qualified for the first round of the AHSAA Baseball Playoffs.  The Bulldogs defeated Hillcrest 18-0, 17-0. Leslie James and Aaron Hagg combined for a No-Hitter in game two.

Brent Shiver and Chris Kelly hit Back to back HR's in game two.

Andalusia will travel to Jackson Friday for their first round matchup.

 Game 1 4:00, Game 2 6:30, Game 3 Sat. 2:00 if needed.

Bulldogs shutout Tigers

T.R. Miller	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Andalusia	3	0	1	1	0	0	5

Andalusia moved to 10-6 on the season with a 5-0 win over area foe TR Miller.  Morgen Battey continues to dominate from the mound recording 10 K's and giving up 2 hits to improve her record to 10-3. 

Halie Burnette went two for two with two runs and an RBI in the win.  Paige Caraway and Britney Pitts both went one for three at the plate as the Bulldogs get ready for Opp on Monday. 

Bulldogs erupt against WS Neal
scores 10 in Game 2

Neal 3 Andalusia 2

Andalusia is still improving as evident with the three fielding errors and two major base running mistakes that allowed the Eagles to defeat the Bulldogs in game one.  Andalusia's Coach Stan Gooden stated "Neal's Shell did an outstanding job of keeping us off balanced at the plate" as the Bulldogs try to execute and play mistake free.  Gooden was happy with his pitching as well, "Taylor pitched a great game. They were scrappy, give them a lot of credit. They outplayed us."  Andalusia fell to 3-5 on the season after game one.

Taylor Culbreth LP IP 7, BF 23, R 3, ER 1, H 2, SO 8, BB 2

James Hogg 1-3, Jeffry Etheridge 1-3 1RBI, Aaron Hagg 1-3, Marcus Ingram 1-3 1RBI, James Hogg and Taylor Culbreth both scored runs.

Andalusia 10 Neal 0

After committing some extremely costly mistakes Gooden was concerned about the double header - "I was worried about our confidence going into game 2,  We had lost over in Opp and dropping the first area game really brought us down." 

 However pitching can mistake problems and Andalusia's Nick Cooper did an outstanding job on the mound for the Bulldogs.  "He did what you want from a pitcher, just throw strikes." 

The Bulldog's defense did their job and Andalusia finally lived up to expectations at the plate.

"We still need to execute the little things. We have to go back to work and try to improve" said Gooden. 

The Bulldogs have two big games remaining this week.  Donelson Christian on Friday at home and Demopolis and Thomasville in Demopolis on Saturday.

Nick Cooper WP IP 7, BF 30, R 0, ER 0, H 3, SO 11, BB 5
Nick Cooper 3-5 2runs,Aaron Hagg 2-5 HR, James Hogg 2-4

Bobcats win both from Bulldogs

Opp took a three hour junior varsity contest from Andalusia and followed up on the Bulldogs coming from behind...Sporting News on Program23

Bulldogs struggle in Enterprise

The larger schools took it out on 4A Andalusia and Opp in the Enterprise tournament this past weekend.  Coach Gooden didn't feel his Bulldogs played up to their potential leaving 23 runners on base in two games on Saturday.  The Bulldogs also struggled at the plate with 10 strikeouts watching the ball pass.  On the field Andalusia committed 13 errors and allowed 19 walks. 

As bad as Andalusia played - a few improvements will turn things around quickly.  Andalusia only lost to Ozark by one run (7-6) and loses to Henderson (Troy) and Enterprise could have been worse (9-4; 8-4 respective). 

Andalusia did manage a 4-3 win over the baseball power Rebels of G.W. Long over the tournament.  "We have been working on correcting some things" said Gooden.  "If you don't throw strikes and play solid defense you will not win many games.  We've have to gain some confidence and get ready for area play."Opp High School Bobcats - Program 23