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.  

Tigers win area game

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
Highland Home	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Red Level	0	2	0	1	1	0	x	4

Red Level hosted Highland Home Thursday evening for their final area game of the season and finishing off the Flying Squadron 4-0.

 Cale Nolen would get the start for the Tigers and followed with a quick 1,2,3 inning. In the bottom of the first Red Level would get two runners on but left them stranded on the base paths.

In the bottom of the 2nd Red Level would get on the score board after Tyler Patterson battled for a lead off walk, Nathan Johns would sacrifice bunt and reach 1st on a throwing error, with no outs R.L was looking for a big inning but 2 straight strikeouts threatened to end their scoring threats. 

Cale Nolen delivered a 2 RBI hit to put Red Level in front 2 to 0 and staked himself to all the run support need to get the win.  In the Top of the 3rd Nolen would strikeout the side.

In the bottom of the 4th Red Level would add to their lead with 2 outs,  Cale Nolen would double and scored off of Kyle Nolen's RBI single to give R.L a 3 to 0 lead.

 In the top of the 5th Highland Home would get their 1st hit of the evening from the lead off batter, the next batter up walked and Highland Home was threatening with 2 on and no outs but a pickoff at 1st and 2 straight strikeouts ended the inning for Highland Home.

Red Level added an insurance run in the bottom of the 5th with Charlie Gordon getting a lead off single, and with 1 out Tyler Patterson hit a deep ball to right center gap that sent Gordon off and running,  Gordon would be thrown out at home on a close play. 

 Nathan Johns reached on a fielding error by the 3rd baseman putting 2 on with 2 outs, Kyle Marlow was next up and made the most of it by hitting a double to bring in Patterson for a RBI giving Red Level a 4-0 lead.

Red Level was lead at the plate with Cale and Kyle Nolen both went 3-4, Charlie Gordon and Tyler Patterson both were 2-2 with 1 walk each, Kyle Marlow was 1-3 with 1RBI.

Cale Nolen was the winning pitcher going all 7 innings 0 Runs, 2 Hits, 2 Walks, 9 Strikeouts.

Tigers win area game

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
Goshen	0	0	0	0	0	x	x	0
Red Level	3	4	3	0	x	x	x	10

Red Level got an area win with good pitching and good defense to shutdown Goshen.  The Tigers' pitching only allowed 4 batters on base the entire game with 2 hits, 1 hit batter and 1 getting on by a fielding error.

Red Level's Shane Turner would lead the Tigers at the plate going 1-2 with a 2 run Homer.  Cale Nolen, Kyle Nolen, Charlie Gordon and Nathan Johns all added 1 hit a each.

Kyle Nolen was the winning pitcher going the distance (5 innings).  Allowing no runs on two hits and recording six strikeouts.

Tigers sweep Hillcrest

Red Level played 2 games yesterday against Hillcrest and used the time to work some younger players into the lineup.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
Hillcrest	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Red Level	3	0	0	1	2	4	x	10

In the first game, Red Level won 10 to 1.  The Tigers were lead at the pate by Blake Pate and Nathan Johns both going 3-4.  Tyler Paulk, Tyler Patterson and Kyle Marlow each had 2 hits.

Winning Pitcher for Red Level was Troy Nolen who went 6 innings allowed 1 run on 4 hits striking out 11, William Watson pitched 1 inning 0 Runs 0 Hits with 2 strikeouts.

GAME TWO

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
Hillcrest	0	0	0	0	0	0	x	0
Red Level	2	0	4	1	0	3	x	10

Charlie Gordon got 2 hits and Matthew Bond, Tyler Patterson, Nathan Johns and Kyle Marlow each added 1 hit.

Winning Pitcher was Shane Turner who went 4 innings 0 runs, 3 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts.  Cale Nolen pitched the last 2 innings 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 hit batter and 5 strikeouts.

Red Level over Georgiana

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final	H	E
Georgiana	0	0	1	1	0	x	x	2	2	0
Red Level	1	0	3	4	4	x	x	12	11	3

Red Level hosted Georgiana for a area game on Saturday morning. Red Level won by a final score of 12 to 2 and remains a perfect 5-0 in area play.
Red Level sent Charlie Gordon to the mound.

Gordon would get 3 ground ball outs and would allow 1 hit in his 1st inning of work. Bottom of the first, Cale Nolen got things started with a single, and took 2nd with a passed ball. Kyle Nolen would sacrifice the runner to 3rd and Shane Turner would score the run on a sacrifice fly to deep center field.

Red Level scored 1 run on 1 hit and 0 walks. Top of the 2nd Gordon picked right back up where he had left off in the 1st going 3 up 3 down collecting 1 strikeout in the inning. Bottom of the 2nd Red Level would also go 3 up 3 down. In the top of the 3rd Georgiana would score their 1st run of the game, with the lead off batter getting on by a error in the field, a walk followed, a double steal and another error would bring in 1 run.

Gordon would regroup quick and K'O the next batter then he would get 2 straight 5-3 ground outs in a row to end the inning. The bottom of the 3rd Red Level would get things going with Kyle Marlow leading off with a single, Cale Nolen with a single and Shane Turner would hit a 2 RBI triple. Matthew Bond got a 1 RBI single to end the inning with Red Level scoring 3 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk.

Top of the 4th Georgiana's lead off man got a double and would score later in the inning off of a fielding error. Georgiana scored 1 run on 1 hit, 1 walk and 1 error. Red Level kept the bats hot in the bottom of the 4th with Tyler Patterson leading off with a scary hard line drive single that ricochet off the top of the Georgiana pitcher's head. The ball must have struck the glove first as the pitcher would stay in the game and complete the inning. Kyle Marlow walked and Nathan Johns would bunt his way on loading the bases for Cale Nolen.

Nolen with a RBI single, Shane Turner with a 2 RBI double and Matthew Bond would score 1 run on a 6-3 ground out. Red Level scored 4 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk. Gordon in to pitch the 5th kept right on pace K'O the 1st batter and getting 2 more straight 5-3 ground outs to end the inning with 3 up 3 down. In the bottom of the 5th, Jonathon Neal would get an infield single, Tyler

Patterson and Cale Nolen would both walk loading the bases for Kyle Nolen. Kyle would draw a bases loaded RBI walk. Next up Shane Turner would get another 2 RBI double to end the game on the 10 run rule with Red level winning by a final score of 12 to 2.

Red Level was lead at the plate by Shane Turner going 3-3 with 1 Triple, 2 Doubles and 7 RBI's, Cale Nolen also was 3-3 with 1 walk, Matthew Bond, Jonathon Neal, Tyler Patterson, Kyle Marlow and Nathan Johns all added 1 hit each.

Charlie Gordon was the winning pitcher going all 5 innings, 2 Runs 0 earned,on 2 hits, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.

Red Level will face Luverne, Tuesday in Luverne for a very important area game.

Tigers fall to Excel

Red Level Hosted Excel Thursday evening for a non area game and the Tigers would come up a little short, losing by a final score of 4 to 2.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
Excel	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	4
Red Level	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2

Excel went to the plate first and would face Red Level's starting pitcher Kyle Nolen. The lead off batter would get on base the hard way by getting hit by a pitch.  Excel attempted a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner, but the Tiger's throw was a little wide and both runners would end up safe, the third batter would get the first hit of the game - loading the bases. 

Excel would score their 1st run on a passed ball, the 4th hitter would get a RBI single giving Excel a 2 to 0 lead, a pop up to 1st, a K'O, and a ground ball back to the pitcher would end the top half of the inning as Excel scored 2 Runs - 1 earned, on 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter and 1 K'O.

Red Level would get things started off as Cale Nolen started with a double.  Shane Turner would get on by a Excel fielding error, Matthew Bond would load the bases with a walk and Charlie Gordon would draw a bases loaded walk to score Red level's first run of the night. 

It looked positive for the Tigers, but two straight strikeouts would end the inning, as Red Level left the bases loaded.  The Tigers scored 1 Run on 1 hit, 2 walks.

Starting the top half of the second, Excel's first batter would line out to the SS, but their second would double followed by a two run homer.  Nolen would get Excel into a 5-3 ground ball followed by a strike out to end the inning.  The damage was done as Excel scored 2 runs on 2 hits, 1 walk, 1K'O.

The bottom of the 2nd Red Level would go 3 up 3 down. Top of 3rd Excel would get 1 infield hit but 2 fly outs and a 5-3 would end the inning.

Bottom of the 3rd R.L would get 2 on with walks but could not manage to move the runners. The top of the 4th excel would get a leadoff double but 2 quick ground ball outs, and 1 line out to SS would end the inning. In the Bottom of the 4th with 2 outs Nathan Johns would reach base after being hit by a pitch, Johns would score off of a double by Cale Nolen to cut Excel's lead down to 4 to 2 after 4 innings. The 5th, 6th and 7th inning would turn out to be a pitching and defensive duel as neither team would not get more than 1 runner on in any inning. Kyle Nolen would finish the game strong striking out 4 of the last 7 batters.

Red Level was lead at the plate by Cale Nolen who went 3-4 with 2 doubles, Jonathon Neal would also collect 1 hit.

Kyle Nolen would take the loss for R.L going all 7 innings, allowing 3 Earned Runs, 9 hits, 3 walks, 6 K'O's

Red Level falls to 11-6 on the season 4-0 in area play, Red Level will host Georgiana this Saturday for a area game.

Red Level defeats Tigers
(program23 correspondent)

Red Level improved to 11-5 on the season with a 4-0 record in area play after winning 6 to 3 over the visiting Luverne Tigers.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final	H	E
Luverne	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	1	4
Red Level	2	4	0	0	0	0		6	8	1

Luverne would get things started in the top of the 1st facing Red Level's starter Cale Nolen, Nolen would walk the first two batters he faced, a hit later in the inning would score both runs. In the bottom of the 1st Red Level got their chance at bat and would get the bats hot quick, Cale Nolen would hit a lead off double, Kyle Nolen would follow with a RBI single, Shane Turner would also single, Matthew Bond drew a walk loading the bases for Charlie Gordon who would bring in another run on a infield hit for R.L's 2nd run of the inning. Red Level had a chance for a big inning but had 2 runners out at home plate. Starting the 2nd Luverne got the lead off man on by a walk, a quick 1-3 out would put the lead off man in scoring position only to be picked off at 2nd base, Nolen would K'O the next batter to end the inning.

Starting the bottom of the 2nd inning Red Level would get 2 quick outs before Nathan Johns would rip a single, Cale Nolen would hit a flyball to center which should have been the 3rd out but the filder dropped the ball keeping the inning going, R.L's next batter would be Kyle Nolen who would again get a 2 RBI single, Next up would be Shane Turner who had the best hit of the night going Deep with a 2 run Homer over left center field that landed way out in the road giving Red level a 6 to 2 lead after 2 innings of play. The 3rd inning would go 3 up 3 down for both teams.

The top of the 4th Luverne would score 1 run after 2 quick outs of the inning on strikeouts, a walk followed and then a error in the field would bring in Luverne's last run of the night. The rest of the game went by fairly quick with neither team able to get anything serious going.

Red Level was lead at the plate by Shane Turner 2-3 with a 2 RBI HomeRun, Kyle Nolen 2-3 with 3 RBI's, Cale Nolen, Charlie Gordon, Jonathon Neal and Nathan Johns would each add 1 hit.

Cale Nolen was the winning pitcher going 7 innings 2 earned runs, 1H, 8 BB, 12 strike outs.

Red Level falls to Bobcats 

Baseball Varsity Boys = Opp 8 Red Level 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final	H	E
Red Level	3	0	0	0	0	4	1	8	7	4
Opp	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	7	1

Story from Red Level

OPP traveled to Red Level Saturday which was a great day for a baseball game. OPP would cruise to a easy win with Red Level not playing a very good game neither offensively, defensively or pitching. Red Level would match OPP with 7 hits each but Red Level's pitchers would combine to walk 8 of OPP's batters and commit 4 errors, to OPP only walking 2 and only committed 1 error.

Red Levels #4 through #8 hitters were in a slump going a combined 0 for 16 at the plate and receiving no free passes to 1st base, Red Level would be lead in hitting by Shane Turner who collected 1 walk 3 hits with a double and 2 RBI's, Cale Nolen got 2 hits with a triple and scored 2 runs, Kyle Nolen added 1 hit and a walk, Nathan Johns also got 1 hit.
For OPP Cody Hall and Garrett Blair would each get 2 hits, Dunn, Free and Linton would get 1 hit each.

Pitching stats for Red Level taking the loss was
Shane Turner faced 4 batters 3 Runs 1 earned, 0 hits 3 walks 0 Strikeouts
Matthew Bond 5 1/3 innings 4 runs 2 earned , 5 hits 3 walks 1 Strikeout
Charlie Gordon 1 2/3 innings 1 run, 1 earned 2 hits 2 walks 0 Strikeout
Winning pitcher for OPP was
Spencer Youmans 7 Innings 2 Runs 7 Hits 2 walks 5 strikeouts


Story from Opp

Opp (5-5) traveled over to Red Level last Saturday to take on the Tigers in a county game. The Bobcats came out and took advantage of two Red Level walks and an error to jump out to a 3-0 lead before the Tigers even came to bat.

The Tigers answered in the bottom of the first with the lead off batter tripling and scoring on a single later in the inning to cut the lead to 3-1.

Neither team would threaten in the second and the Bobcats went quietly in the top of the third. In the bottom of the third Red Level loaded the bases with one out but would be turned away by Opp as starting pitcher Spencer Youmans struck out the next batter and got the final out on a pop up to right field to end the Tiger threat.

Neither team would threaten in the fourth or fifth inning as neither team could get a runner past second base. Opp came to bat in the top of the sixth looking to blow the game open. Cody Hall would start the inning with the first of three straight base hits. A Tiger error would allow the first four Bobcat batters to reach base. Gavin Free doubled to the fence to bring in two of the four runs to put Opp up 7-1 heading into the seventh inning.

The Bobcats batted around in the sixth inning as Cody Hall once again led off the seventh with a base hit. He would be driven in by Josh Dunn later in the inning to put Opp up 8-1 with Red Level coming to bat in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh Red Level would get a single and a double to drive in one run but it would not be enough as Spencer Youmans struck out the last batter to end the game giving Opp the win 8-2.

 The Bobcats were led by Cody Hall who went 2 for 4 at the plate reaching on an error, 2 singles, an RBI, and 2 runs scored. On the mound Spencer Youmans went the distance giving up 2 runs on 7 hits with just 1 walk, 1 hit batter, and 5 strikeouts.

Red Level's Gordon grounds
the Flying Squadron

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
Red Level	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	6
Highland Home	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2

Red Level traveled to the Home of the Flying Squadron Monday night for an area game and wasted no time getting their bats "off the ground".  The Tigers got 4 hits out of the first 5 batters with Matthew Bond getting the biggest hit of the inning as a 3 RBI Home Run "took off" his bat giving Red Level a quick 3 to 0 lead after half an inning of play.

Highland Home came right back in the bottom scoring two runs of their own as their first batter reached on an error and the next got an RBI hit to "land" their first run of the night, Red Level's pitcher Charlie Gordon would get 2 straight strikeouts before the fifth Highland Home batter got a hit scoring the Squadron's second run of the inning.

Highland Home's second run in the first would be all their team's offense for the night adding only 1 hit and 1 walk for the next 6 innings of play. The Tigers would get out of the inning off a routine 4-3 groundball ending the first with Red Level holding a 3 to 2 lead.

Neither team would bring any runs into the "hanger" during the second, but in the third inning Red Level would get on the scoreboard again.  The Tigers added three hits and two walks in the inning to score two runs but a chance for a big inning came to a end on a strikeout  leaving the bases loaded.

The pitchers for Red Level and Highland Home took over the next seven at bats and shut both teams down.  The Tigers threatened with the bases loaded in the fifth, but the Flying Squadron pitched out of a jam and struck out the next two Tigers to leave the bases loaded.

Red Level added an insurance run in the seventh inning off 2 hits that pushed the Tigers up 6 to 2.

Red Level was lead at the plate by Cale Nolen, Shane Turner, Charlie Gordon, and Jonathon Neal each getting 2 hits. Kyle Nolen, Matthew Bond and Nathan Johns each had 1 hit.

Matthew Bond had the biggest hit of the night with a 3 run homer in the top of the 1st, Bond also reached base 2 more times courtesy of a walk and being hit by a pitch.

For the Tigers on the mound it was Charlie Gordon getting the win as he dominated the game.  Gordon would pitch 4 innings allowing 1 earned run on 3 hits with no walks and striking out 9 batters. Cale Nolen came in for relief recorded the save going the last 3 innings allowing 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk while striking out 5 batters.

Red Level will host Goshen Wednesday for an area game.  The Tigers' record on the season is 10 - 4 and 3 - 0 in area play.

Tigers take "Hill" 
..a Wild-pitch from a shutout

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
Red Level	1	6	0	3	2			12
Hillcrest - Evergreen	0	0	0	1	0			1

Red Level traveled to Hillcrest and returned with a win after finishing 2-1 over the weekend.   Red Level would score the 1st run of the game on 2 hits in the top of the first and would never relinquish their lead. 

The Tigers scored 6 runs in the top of the second off of 7 hits and 1 BB. The 3rd inning went by quietly but Red Level would get things started again in the fourth, scoring 3 runs on 4 hits and 1 BB.

Hillcrest added a run in the bottom of the fourth that started with a lead off walk.  Two stolen bases and a wild pitch would allow the shutout to be erased.

The Tigers added one more run in the 5th with 1H, 3 BB.

Red Level was lead at the plate by Mathew Bond who was 3-4 with a homerun, Cale Nolen, Kyle Nolen, Shane Turner and Charlie Gordon would all go 2-3 with 1BB.

Tyler Patterson, Jon Jon neal, Nathan Johns each had 1 hit.

Kyle Nolen was the winning pitcher going 5 innings, 1R, 2H, 1BB, 10 K'O

Red Level will host Hillcrest Tuesday evening in a double header JV game, game time is set for the 1st pitch to be thrown at 4:00pm.

Turner Signs with LBW
Red Level Senior Shane Turner has signed to play baseball after high school with the LBW Saints.

Turner's parents were on hand alone with Saints coach Brandon Ware.  Ware was excited about Turner's ability and what he can bring to the Andalusia school. 

Red Level's Coach Tony Ingram is glad to have Turner around for the remainder of the 2008 year.  "He's a great team player and I've watched him grow over his Tiger Career - he has a great future ahead of him both as a student and athlete at LBW."

Tigers / Eagles Split Double Header

Red Level hosted Pleasant Home Friday night and the two teams would split the double header with Red Level winning the first game 7 to 2 and Pleasant Home taking a close 3 to 2 contest.

The Tigers jumped out to a fast start in the first inning of game one - scoring 5 runs on 3 hits, 2 errors and 1 BB.  Red Level would not plate another runner again until the fourth inning when the Tigers scored 2 runs on 3 hits, 1 error and 1 BB.

Pleasant Home would attempt a bottom of the seventh comeback but the late rally would only produce 2 runs off of 2 Hits and 1error to give the 2A Tigers the win 7 to 2.

At the plate the Tigers were led by Cale Nolen, Shane Turner and Tyler Patterson with 2 hits each in the game, Kyle Nolen, Jon Jon Neal and Nathan Johns had 1 hit each.

For Pleasant Home Josh Godwin and Ethan King would get 2 hits each, Josh Dozier, Emory Rabren, Blake Herman and Garrett Roland each had 1 hit.

Charlie Gordon was the winning pitcher going 5 innings, 0R,6H,3BB,4 K'O,
Shane Turner came in and pitched the final 2 innings 2R,3H,3BB,4 K'O

Emory Rabren would take the loss going 6 innings allowing 7R,9H,3BB, 9 K'O

GAME TWO

In the second game both teams' bats were cold and the home team would again get started first. Red Level brought across two in the bottom of the 2nd, scoring two runs off 2 BB and 1 hit but that would be all they would get as Josh Dozier shut down the Tigers and would allow only 2 more hits the rest of the night.

Pleasant Home's offense was just as cold early scoring their 1st run in the 5th inning off of 2 hits and 1 error. With Pleasant Home trailing 2 to 1 going in to the seventh the Eagles came to life at the plate with 3 hits and scorgin twice.  The Tigers committed one error in the seventh as Pleasant Home picked up the victory winning 3-2.

R.L would be led at the plate by Cale Nolen, Shane Turner and Tyler Patterson each with 1 hit.

P.H was led by Ethan King, Emory Rabren with 2 hits each, Josh Sutton,Blake Herman and Tanner Carter would each get 1 hit.

For R.L Cale Nolen pitched 5 innings 1R, 4H, 4BB, 7K'O
Matthew Bond would take the loss pitching 2 innings 2R, 3H, 0BB, 2K'O

For P.H Josh Dozier was the winning pitcher 7 innings 2R, 3H, 7BB, 12 K'O

Red Level gets ready

Red Level hopes to build on last year's 21-7 regular season re-visit the 2006-2007 season including the area championship.  Last year Red Level jumped off to an 8-0 start before falling to Opp.  How will the Tigers get started with the 2007-2008 season?