Cardinals two wins away from state tournament

The Adamsville Cardinal baseball team seems to be peaking at just the right time of the season. The Cardinals finished second in last week’s district tournament to give them a berth in the region quarterfinals against Douglass. Adamsville has won eight of their last eleven games.

Their region matchup with Douglass was supposed to have been played on Monday, but was moved to Tuesday due to rain in the Memphis area. The results weren’t known at press time. With a victory against Douglass, the Cardinals would play a region semifinal game on Wednesday. A win against Douglass would also put the Cardinals in a region finals game on Friday. The winner of the region finals earns a berth in the state tournament. Wednesday’s region semifinal game determines who the home team is in the region finals.

Josh Carroll, Bradley Melton, Will Erwin, Jalen Kendall, and Josh Chappell were each selected to the All-District team for their play during the regular season. Adamsville is currently 21-17 overall on the season.

Cardinals 4, Middleton 2

Adamsville scored two runs in the first inning and added two more in the third to account for their four runs. Middleton scored two runs in the fifth, but couldn’t get any closer in the final two innings.

The Cardinals scored their two runs in the first inning behind singles by Eric Hammock and Will Erwin. Josh Carroll had a sacrifice fly and Bradley Melton single. The two runs in the third inning were scored after Erwin and Carroll had back-to-back doubles. Josh Chappell added a single in the inning.

Drew Griswell (2-4) picked up the win on the mound. Griswell allowed only five hits and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. John Reed Odom got the final out to pick up his second save of the season. Erwin led the Cardinal hit parade by going 3-for-3. Carroll added two hits for the Cardinals.

Cardinals 10, Madison 5

Adamsville jumped in front 9-0 in the first five innings to cruise to a 10-5 victory over Madison. The Cardinals allowed Madison to score five runs in the final two innings to set the final margin. Bradley Melton was 3-for-4 in the game, including a 2-run home run in the first inning. Eric Hammock, Jalen Kendall, Josh Chappell, John Reed Odom, and Rob McArthur each had two hits. Odom added three RBIs in the game. Kasey Hurley (3-3) was the winning pitcher. Hurley pitched six inning in the Cardinal victory. Wayne Replogle pitched the seventh inning for Adamsville.

Cardinals 8, Scotts Hill 5

Adamsville broke open a tie game with four runs in the sixth inning to give them a 6-2 advantage. After Scotts Hill cut the lead to 6-5 after the bottom of the sixth, the Cardinals added two insurance runs in the seventh inning.

John Reed Odom had a RBI double and Eric Hammock each had RBI base hits in the second inning. Adamsville picked up four runs in the sixth inning on a bases loaded single by Kasey Hurley and a 2-run home run by Hammock. Bradley Melton and Josh Chappell each had solo home runs in the seventh inning.

Jalen Kendall (2-3) was the winning pitcher. Kendall pitched five innings in the game for the Cardinals. Odom pitched the final two innings for Adamsville. Hammock and Erwin each had two hits in the game for the Cardinals.

Riverside 13, Cardinals 3 (Championship Game)

Adamsville lost to Riverside by a score of 13-3 on Thursday in their fifth game in just four days. After Adamsville jumped in front by a score of 2-0 in the first inning, Riverside responded with 13 straight runs in the next four innings to pick up the five-inning victory. Josh Carroll had a 2-run home run in the first inning for Adamsville. Will Erwin had a RBI double in the fifth inning. John Reed Odom (2-2) suffered the loss on the mound for the Cardinals.