By Mike Goodson/Sports Correspondent
Gadsden City scored seven runs in the final two innings, including six in the bottom of the seventh, to edge Oxford, 7-6, in a Class 6A, Area 13 game on Tuesday (Apr. 2) in high school baseball in Gadsden.
“We desperately needed this game,” said GCHS head baseball coach Todd Lamberth. “This was a great job by our team and a great win. We just refused to give up.”
Capitalizing on numerous Titan errors and helped by a long home run by Colton Turner, the Yellow Jackets led 3-0 after three innings.
Oxford added a run in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth to build a 6-0 advantage.
Gadsden City manufactured a run in the sixth inning on only one hit when Matthew Bishop led off with a single and later scored on a throwing error.
The Titans’ seventh-inning rally began with a one-out single by D.D. Adkison.
After Neal Collins and Jay Copeland were hit by pitches, Bishop and Adam Colegrove each worked a walk to pull GCHS within 6-3.
Blaine Russell followed with a double, driving in a pair of runs and trimming the Titans’ deficit to 6-5.
Oxford starter Jacob Cook returned to the mound to record the final two outs, and the Yellow Jackets intentionally walked Cason Williams to set up a play at any base. But Matthew Holland ripped a single to left-centerfield, scoring Colegrove and Russell with the game-winning runs.