Grissom Baseball Weekly Recap – Week of 4/19-4/24

Monday – 4/19 JV Tourney

JV – Grissom 5, Sparkman 2

In the final pool play game for the JV Tournament, it was the JV Tigers who came out on top following a 4-run 4^th inning to take the 5-2 victory. Sophomore Trent Wagoner led hitters with 2 hits, including a 2-RBI Triple. Sophomores Ian Lee and David Hughes both added 1 more RBI each for Grissom. Sophomore Hayden Mai picked up the Win working 4 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and striking out 7. Sophomore Garrett Swearingen picked up the Save working a scoreless 5^th inning.

Tuesday – 4/20 vs. Huntsville

Varsity – Grissom 8, Huntsville 9

The Tigers jumped out early on the rival Panthers on Tuesday, scoring 8 unanswered runs in the first 3 innings of the game. However, it was a 9-run 6^th inning by Huntsville that shocked the Tigers, giving them the 9-8 loss in the series opener. The Game 1 matchup saw a combined 17 runs, 23 hits, and 6 errors.

Wallace State signee John Allen Stogner (5-5, 3.57 ERA) picked up a No Decision as he worked 5 shutout innings, retiring 12 of the last 13 hitters faced prior to hitting a wall in the top half of the 6^th inning. Junior Rynzo Crutcher suffered his first loss of the season as he worked the final 1.1 innings, allowing just 1 run on 2 hits, striking out 2.

Grissom put together 12 hits on the day, with 8 of the starting 9 recording at least 1 hit. Seniors Cannon Raby and Noah Lam, along with Junior Jackson Carson all picked up 2 RBIs on the day. With this loss, the Tigers now no longer controlled their destiny for the Area and would need outside help if in order to win the Area Championship.

Wednesday – 4/21 JV Tourney

JV – Grissom 4, Buckhorn 8

The Tigers JV dropped their consolation game against the Bucks after allowing 8 Buckhorn runs to cross in the first 3 innings. Sophomore Wyatt Nielson led Grissom hitters with 2 hits and 1 RBI as the team combined for just 5 hits and 4 runs. Pitchers struggled for the Tigers as Nielson was the lone Grissom pitcher not to allow a run in his 1 inning of work. The JV Tigers finished the season 20-8-1.

Thursday – 4/22 @ Huntsville

Varsity – Grissom 7, Huntsville 0

Unlike the early slugfest on Tuesday, Game 2 of the series saw a pitcher’s duel for the first 4 innings. With the Tigers leading 1-0 entering the 5^th inning, it was an RBI single by Troy signee Dillon Cook and a 2-out back breaker, 3-RBI double off of the bat of Snead State signee Noah Lam that gave the Tigers a 5-0 lead through 5. Grissom added 2 more runs in the 6^th off of a sacrifice fly from Sophomore Tyler Sanderson and another RBI single from Cook to give the Tigers the big 7-0 victory on the road.

Grissom hitters put together 10 hits on the day, with Dillon Cook leading the way going 3-3 on the day with 2 RBIs. Martin Methodist signee Cannon Raby also added 2 more hits for the Tigers as 7 different hitters recorded at least 1 hit in the game.

Pitching was led by another stellar performance by Snead State commit Evan Steckmesser (4-1, 2.57 ERA) who picked up the Win working 4.2 shutout innings, striking out a season-high 10 hitters in the game. Wallace State signee Will Varmette (4-2, 3.63 ERA) worked the final 2.1 innings in relief, allowing 0 runs on only 2 hits with 0 BBs and 1 K. This Grissom victory insured a spot in the playoffs, as well as at least a series split with the rival Panthers.

Varsity – Grissom 9, Huntsville 2

Needing a win to take the series from the Panthers, the Tigers remained hot at the plate and brought across 9 runs in the first 3 innings. The 10 hits by Grissom gave them double digit hits in all 3 games of the series against Huntsville. Junior Christian Sutphin was the leader on offense for Grissom as he drove in 3 RBIs on 2 hits. Junior Jackson Carson and Senior Noah Lam each recorded 2 more hits apiece.

Troy signee Dillon Cook (5-2, 1.93 ERA) picked up the Win working 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, and striking out 12 Panthers’ hitters. Junior Rynzo Crutcher (1-1, 4 Saves, 2.36 ERA) worked the final 2 innings of the game in perfect fashion, striking out 2 of the final 6 outs of the game. This win gave the Tigers the series victory over Huntsville as they head into the 1^st Round of the Playoffs beginning on Friday 4/30 at Hewitt-Trussville.

Upcoming Games

• Friday 4/30 – 1^st Round of Playoffs @ #1 Hewitt-Trussville – 4:30/7:00
• Saturday 5/1– *IF NECESSARY @ #1 Hewitt-Trussville – 12:00

FINAL 2021 AREA STANDINGS

1. Sparkman (5-1)*
2. Grissom (4-2)*
3. Albertville (2-4)
4. Huntsville (1-5)

2021 JV OFFENSIVE LEADERS

1. 8^th Grade – Charlie Cassingham – .358 AVG, 18 RBI, 30 SB
2. 8^th Grade – Garrett Blacklock – .345 AVG, 11 RBI, 10 SB
3. Sophomore – Ian Lee – .338 AVG, 15 RBI, 20 SB

2021 JV PITCHING LEADERS

1. Sophomore – Ian Lee – 3-0, 2.25 ERA, 20 Ks
2. Sophomore – Blake Moon – 5-0, 2.63 ERA, 51 Ks
3. 8^th Grade – Garrett Blacklock – 2-0, 2.82 ERA

Article recap by: Austin Wright