Cornerstone, Coosa Valley to meet in AISA baseball playoffs
Published 12:07 pm Saturday, April 24, 2010
Coosa Valley Academy and Cornerstone Christian School each swept a doubleheader April 23 in the first round of the Alabama Independent Schools Association Class 1A baseball playoffs and will meet in a best-of-three series in the semifinals April 28-29.
The two teams, which split two meetings during the regular season, will open the series Wednesday at 4 p.m. with a doubleheader at Coosa Valley. The if-necessary third game is slated for Thursday.
Cornerstone Christian knocked Coosa Valley out of the AISA Class 1A playoffs in the semifinals in 2009.
Coosa Valley Academy (30-9) defeated Sumter Academy 16-2 and 15-1 in the first round.
Coosa Valley scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and add nine more runs in the bottom of the third on the way to a 16-2 win in the opener.
Justin Floyd led the Rebels at the plate with a single and two doubles. Jarred Mims added two doubles.
Ricky Ellison and Gage Holmes added a double and single each and Phillip Neal added two singles.
Mims picked up the win for Coosa Valley, striking out three.
Game two was not much different as Coosa Valley completely dominated the visiting Eagles to finish off the sweep 15-1 for their 11th-straight win.
The Rebels received hits from 11 different players. John Bullen led the way with two doubles and Will Bullen added two singles. Ellison added a triple and Hunter Winslett and Colby Pearl added a double each.
Daniel Kennedy struck out six to pick up the victory for Coosa Valley.
Cornerstone sweeps Jackson Academy
Cornerstone Christian (15-6) went on the road and swept Jackson Academy 10-4 and 13-1 in the first round of the AISA Class 1A playoffs.
Cornerstone Christian suffered from sloppy play early and trailed 4-3 going into the sixth inning before erupting for seven runs in the last two innings to pull out the win.
Colton Wingard’s solo homerun in the top of the seventh helped give the Chargers a 7-4 lead and put game one away.
Lance Benton went all seven innings on the mound, striking out nine and allowing only two hits, to pick up his eighth victory of the season. Benton added two singles and two RBIs at the plate.
Patrick Shaw led the Chargers at the plate with four singles and two RBIs and Tyler Davis added two singles and two RBIs.
The Chargers scored three runs in the bottom of the first and 10 runs in the bottom of the third to seal a 13-1 win in five innings in the second game.
Chase Payne and Colton Wingard had two singles and two RBIs each to lead the Chargers at the plate.
Shaw added a double and three RBIs and Dylan Rodgers had a single, two stolen bases and scored twice for Cornerstone.
Austin Davis struck out five in four innings and gave up five hits to pick up the win. Auston Wingard struck out two of the three batters he faced in the fifth to end the game.