Helena shuts out Oak Mountain in top-5 showdown

Published 3:19 pm Thursday, April 6, 2017

By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY–In a matchup that featured two top-5 teams in their respective classifications, Helena vs. Oak Mountain on the baseball diamond was sure to be an intriguing matchup on Tuesday, April 4, as the regular season continues to wind down.

On this day, it was the Huskies that fooled Oak Mountain at the plate as Helena pitchers Troy Cordrey and Riley Davis combined to throw a 4-hit shutout en route to a big 4-0 win on the road.

Oak Mountain countered with starting pitcher Scott Fleming who pitched four innings and gave up four hits and one run before the bullpen took over.

The game remained scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when Helena broke through to take the lead.

Helena’s Sam Praytor got the top half of the fourth inning started by hitting a 1-out double. Brooks Brophy was the next batter and singled to put runners on first and second. After Nash Adams struck out, Helena needed a two-out hit to take the lead.

It was Cordrey who helped his own cause by hitting a two-out single to score Lawson Peoples to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead and gave himself a one run cushion when taking the mound the next inning.

After both teams failed to push a run across in the fifth and sixth innings, Helena still held a narrow one run lead heading to the final inning.

In the top of the seventh inning, Helena added some needed insurance runs as the Huskies touched up Oak Mountain relief pitcher Caleb Floyd to score three runs with two outs in the inning.

Helena added one run after a Davis double plated Jake Busby to extend the Huskies lead to 2-0. The final two runs in the inning came when Adams hit a two-out, two-RBI double to score Josh Daugherty and Peoples.

Leading 4-0, the Eagles needed at least four runs to extend the game but Helena’s Davis sat down Oak Mountain in order to preserve the shutout and give the Huskies their 24th win of the season.

Davis and Brophy both collected multiple hits in the game and Adams led Helena with two RBIs.

After defeating Oak Mountain, the Huskies have won eight in a row and 15 of their last 16 games and were rewarded in the latest ASWA poll moving up from No. 4 to No. 1 in Class 6A.