DADEVILLE — Will Gulledge’s double into the gap in left-center field scored Walker Bynum in the top of the seventh to give Dadeville a one-run lead.
Andy Clark retired Sumiton Christian in order in the bottom of the seventh to give Dadeville the one-run win, 5-4, and the series sweep over the No. 2 team in Class 3A.
The Tigers will play at Northside next Friday in the second round of the playoffs in a best-of-three series.
No. 7 Dadeville (20-13) beat Sumiton in the first game 11-1 in five innings, with starter Cameron Carleton giving up just one hit and striking out six.
“We felt like we were in control all night,” Dadeville head coach Randy Nolen said.
And that started from the first inning of the first game.
The Tigers jumped on Sumiton’s ace Josh Rouse for four runs in the first frame to put the game out of reach.
“We were fortunate to put four on the board early,” Nolen said.
Rouse was then lifted and Dadeville kept pounding out hits and runs.
In the fifth, Quinn Harrelson ended it, giving the Tigers the 10-run, mercy rule win with a three-run home run. It was Harrelson’s third hit of the game.
In the second game, Dadeville was up 4-2 in going into the bottom of the fourth inning. But Sumiton was able to tie the game up with two runs in its half.
“We had that one bad inning,” Nolen said. “But it wasn’t enough to where we felt like we had to claw back into it.
“We never felt like we were out of it.”
After two scoreless innings, Dadeville got going in the seventh.
Bynum led off the inning with a walk and stole second base. He then moved to third on a fielder’s choice by Harrelson. With one out, Jordan Moran was hit by a pitch and then stole second.
Enter Gulledge. The centerfielder jumped an inside pitch and put it off the base of the wall in left-center to score Bynum and give the Tigers the go-ahead run.
mszvetitz@oanow.com | 737-2513
Read Mike Szvetitz's blog here.
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