Birmingham – The Shades Valley Mounties (6-3) squared off with the Jackson-Olin Mustangs (3-6) in the confines of the 113-year-old Rickwood Field Tuesday afternoon. The Mounties’ bats remained hot, pitcher Eli Nelson was sensational on the mound, and Valley walked away with a 14-0 win.
Coach Darryl Dunbar had a simple message for his team. “Every game has a purpose; play it with a purpose and work on something that makes you better.”
The Mounties put two runs on the board in the first inning with RBIs by Avery Prichard and Steven Manley that scored J’Caius Moore and Jacob Mahand.
Valley added a third run to their tallie in the second inning when Moore scored again, this time on a Steve Brown double.
The hot-hitting Mounties scored seven runs in the third inning to push the score to 10-0. Mahand, Manley, Brown, Moore, and Clayton Garrison had RBIs in the inning.
Manley and Justin Miller scored runs in the fourth inning to give Shades Valley a 12-0 lead.
A hard grounder by Miller to left field scored Garrison and Moore to make the score 14-0.
Nelson got the win for the Mounties. The righty went the distance, threw 51 strikes on 69 pitches, gave up only three hits, no runs, and struck out 11 Mustangs.
The Mountie defense played well and didn’t commit an error against the Mustangs. Garrison, returning from an injury, had the most opportunities in the field with seven. Miller went two for two from the plate with two RBIs. The Mounties stole nine bases, with Manley and Moore leading the team with two apiece.
Shades Valley hosts Minor Thursday afternoon.
The RED & BLACK 