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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Calera Eagles took the first half of their crucial pair of area series with a sweep against the Chilton County Tigers.

After a sixth-inning rally put away a 6-4 win on Tuesday, March 18 at Chilton County High School, Calera shut out their local foe for an 8-0 victory on Thursday, March 20 at the Eagle Sports Complex.

In game one of the series, the Tigers struck first with a solo home run after a double play in the bottom of the first.

However, miscues from the hosts allowed Calera to load up the bases off a single, error and a walk in the top of the second. DJ White then tied up the game at 1-1 on a wild pitch.

After a scoreless third, the Eagles got back in business in the top of the fourth thanks to a lead-off walk from Dalton Ash followed by a White single. That left runners on the corners for David Gutierrez, who grounded out to short and got an error that let Calera take a 2-1 lead.

Two batters later, AJ Johnson took that lead to 3-1 with an RBI single to cap off the inning.

Chilton County responded in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out RBI single to make it a one-run game. However, the Eagles restored their lead in the top of the fifth when they turned a lead-off walk into a run off a fielder’s choice.

The Tigers started off the bottom half of the inning with three consecutive base runners, the latter of whom cut the deficit to one with an RBI single. While Calera recovered with a strikeout, it quickly faced disaster with a passed ball, walk and a wild pitch to tie the game at 4-4.

The Eagles rallied to start the top of the sixth, turning a Jaiden Brown lead-off double into an RBI double from Johnson to retake the lead. Four of the next five batters drew walks to extend the lead to 6-4 and create a gap that Chilton County could not overcome.

Johnson was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI, White finished 2-for-4 with a run and Ash had two RBI off an 0-for-2 day with two walks and a run.

Johnson got the win with five strikeouts in three hitless innings of relief, walking just two batters to finish off the victory.

Two days later within the friendly confines of the Eagle Sports Complex, Calera took the early lead and kept it. After a Kegan Johnson single followed by an error to start the bottom of the first, Johnson scored off an error at home plate to take a 1-0 lead.

A pair of quick base runners in the bottom of the second after a passed ball put two in scoring position for Kegan Johnson, who struck with a two-run single to take the lead to 3-0. Mac Graham then got a two-out single to set up Ash for an RBI single of his own and a 4-0 lead.

After dispatching a Chilton County triple in the top of the third, AJ Johnson capitalized off a Gutierrez lead-off double to bring him home off a fielder’s choice play.

The Eagles then got out of bases-loaded jams in the top of the fourth and sixth innings before adding to their 5-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth.

An error followed by back-to-back singles from Kegan Johnson and Chase Herring loaded up the bases with no outs. Graham brought a run home off a sacrifice fly, and after a pitching change, a passed ball scored Johnson and an Ash single took the lead to 8-0.

Calera faced more pressure in the top of the seventh with two outs thanks to three-straight base runners off a pair of walks and a single, but the Eagles saw out the shutout and series sweep.

Kegan Johnson finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs while Ash went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI.

Ash also secured the win by getting around seven walks and five hits to secure 6.2 shutout innings. He also earned two strikeouts on the day.

Calera improved to 9-12 overall and 2-0 in area play with the wins. The Eagles will kick off Buccaneer Classic play on Thursday, March 27 against Fairview at 4:30 p.m. at the Hoover Met Complex.