Oak Mountain goes 4-0 at Terry Sykes Invitational, Bryson Mormon throws no-hitter against Enterprise

Published 4:35 pm Monday, March 11, 2024

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

TROY – The Oak Mountain Eagles ended the weekend at the Terry Sykes Memorial Invitational with a bang as Bryson Mormon threw a 15-strikeout no-hitter against the Enterprise Wildcats on Saturday, March 9.

The 2-0 win over Enterprise capped off a 4-0 tournament from March 7-9 in Troy as the Eagles continued their dominant start to the season.

Mormon started out the tournament finale against Enterprise with three strikeouts in the top of the first.

After three more strikeouts from Mormon in the top of the second, Oak Mountain got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame.

With two runners on base thanks to a Nick McCord single and Kevin Jasinski walk, Owen Edwards hit an RBI double to put the Eagles up 1-0.

Both pitchers continued to deal as Mormon kept racking up strikeouts until the bottom of the fifth, which was when Oak Mountain got back to scoring.

On the second pitch of the half-inning, Brooks Braswell hit a double to get into scoring position. Two batters later, a sacrifice bunt by Joshua Hart allowed the courtesy runner Zach Fitzgerald to score and increased the lead to 2-0.

Mormon then polished off the no-hitter with three strikeouts in the final seven batters, including on the last two batters of the game.

He finished the seven-inning performance with 15 strikeouts against two walks while not allowing a hit or run.

The Eagles start out the dominant tournament with a 7-0 win over the Wetumpka Indians on Thursday, March 7.

After a pair of walks in the bottom of the first, Noah Eady plated two runs with an RBI double to help Oak Mountain take a 2-0 lead.

The second inning came and went without a run, but thanks to a leadoff single and a walk in the bottom of the third, the Eagles added to their lead shortly after.

A sacrifice fly hit by Eady allowed Alex Harrison to score and extended the lead to three.

From there, the floodgates opened in the bottom of the fourth with four more runs.

With the bases loaded off a single, walk and an error, Morman hit a sacrifice fly to bring McCord home. On the next at bat, Jasinski scored off a wild pitch to make the lead five runs.

Wetumpka loaded up the bases once again on a walk and hit by pitch, and Hart scored shortly after off a wild pitch to finish off the 7-0 win.

Blake Benson earned the win with five scoreless innings, taking six strikeouts against five hits. Gabe Jones took home the save with two hitless innings and five strikeouts without allowing a walk.

Oak Mountain followed that up with a 5-0 win over the G.W. Long Rebels on the same day.

The Eagles capitalized off a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first thanks to a two-out RBI double by Eady to take a 1-0 lead.

A similar situation happened in the third inning after a leadoff walk led to a two-out RBI double by Eady. However, Oak Mountain continued scoring afterwards thanks to an error after a hit by pitch, making the score 3-0.

With runners on the corners and one out in the bottom of the third, a sacrifice fly by Peyton Parkinson allowed Owen Edwards to reach home for the fourth run of the game.

The Eagles scored the final run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth after a pair of walks.

Reed Hartsfield took the win with four strikeouts in four innings while allowing one hit, two walks and no runs. Erik Oxford earned the save with a scoreless seventh inning, allowing just two walks.

Two days later on Saturday, March 9, Oak Mountain earned a run-rule victory over the Charles Henderson Trojans as the tournament continued.

After a scoreless opening two innings, the Trojans allowed the bases to fill up with a pair of two-out walks. McCord and Jasinski capitalized with back-to-back two-run doubles to open up a 4-0 lead.

While the fourth inning came and went without a run, the Eagles got into business thanks to a leadoff triple by Kaleb Hester. After Hartsfield drew a walk, McCord hit an RBI single to bring Hester home and increase the lead to five.

Charles Henderson earned a strikeout on the next batter, but Owen Edwards followed that up with a triple to score a pair of runs. Cole Kelly then took the lead to eight with an RBI single.

Oak Mountain loaded up the bases again with a walk and a single, and a walk on the ensuing at-bat made the lead nine. Oxford then closed the scoring for the inning thanks to a sacrifice fly, making the score 10-0.

The Trojans scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a triple that led to an error. However, the Eagles restored their 10-run lead in the top of the sixth as a wild pitch put runners on second and third for Fitzgerald, who hit a single to secure the win.

McCord led all batters with a 2-3 day with two runs and three RBIs.

Harrison earned the win with five strikeouts in four scoreless innings against two hits and a walk. Fitzgerald finished off the game with a two-inning save, earning two strikeouts against one hit, one walk and one unearned run.

Oak Mountain will return home on Tuesday, March 12 for a 4:30 p.m. game against Hoover.