MADISON - Chris Heaps called Auburn baseball coach Butch Thompson on Thursday morning, just to let him know that two of Thompson’s Tigers-in-waiting (Russellville senior Cody Greenhill and Bob Jones senior Ford Luttrell, both Auburn signees) would be facing off on the mound that afternoon.
“He said, ‘Man, I’d like to see that one,’” said Heaps, now in his fifth season with the Golden Tigers.
As it turned out, neither ace brought their A-game on Thursday, but Greenhill battled through some rare command issues to pitch five solid innings and out-duel Luttrell 4-2, helping Russellville extend its season-best win streak to six games.
Greenhill, a 6’4, 210-pound right-hander who had thrown an astonishing 73 percent of his pitches for strikes in his first six starts while whiffing 48 batters and walking only three, hit leadoff man Caden Rose with his first offering of the game in the bottom of the first inning. By the time his day was done, Greenhill (4-2) had issued a pair of four-pitch walks (both of which eventually came around to score) and had found the strike zone with 58 of his 94 pitches—a merely mortal rate of 62 percent.
Still, Greenhill managed to come through with big pitches in key spots, striking out Luttrell and retiring Dylan Ray on a fly ball to left to escape a two-on, one-out jam in the first and then fanning three-hole hitter Ben East with a 3-2 curveball to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the second. Greenhill allowed a game-tying RBI single to Rose with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, but—after the Golden Tigers (11-5) scored twice in the top of the fifth to reclaim the lead—he finished strong in the bottom of the fifth, striking out the side and leaving with a 4-2 lead.
Greenhill, who improved to 31-9 in his Russellville career, allowed two earned runs on five hits, striking out seven and walking two. Luttrell, meanwhile, needed 107 pitches to get through six innings, allowing four earned runs on four hits. He struck out eight batters, walked four and hit one.
“I didn’t think either pitcher had their best stuff today,” Heaps said afterward. “Cody went to a 3-0 count a few times, which is unusual for him. But he’s a competitor. He battled. You don’t always have your ‘A’ stuff. Some days you have to be able to go out there and win with your ‘B’ stuff or even your ‘C’ stuff.
“The first couple of times he went 3-and-0 on somebody, he walked them on four pitches. But then in his last inning, when he went to 3-and-0 on another guy, he bore down and came back to get a big strikeout.”
Luttrell, a 6’0, 185-pound right-hander, touched 92 on the scoreboard radar gun Thursday and sat in the upper-80s most of the afternoon. Greenhill topped out at 90 on the gun, settling into the 86-89 range and mixing in his curve in key spots.
After plunking Rose (his first hit batsman of the season) and allowing a one-out double to East in the bottom of the first, Greenhill got Luttrell swinging for his first strikeout of the day and then retired Ray on a fly to left. Luttrell walked a batter and hit another in the top of the second, but he escaped the jam with a pair of strikeouts and stranded both runners.
Head coach Jared Smith (a 2003 graduate of Phil Campbell High School now in his second season at Bob Jones) utilized a little small ball in the bottom of the second to help the Patriots (9-13) get to Greenhill for the game's first run. John Michael Riley drew a four-pitch walk with one out, and first baseman Thomas Mitchell followed with a perfectly placed hit-and-run single through the left side of the infield. Number nine batter James Taylor then dropped down a squeeze bunt, and Greenhill’s throw to the plate was too late to get Riley, who scored to make it 1-0.
Rose popped up a bunt for the second out, but Connor Daly reached on an error to load the bases. Greenhill ran the count full on East before striking him out with a curveball to end the threat and keep it a one-run game.
The Golden Tigers grabbed their first lead with two runs in the top of the third. Leadoff man Colin Garrison got things started, pulling an 89-mile-an-hour fastball from Luttrell through the hole on the right side for a base hit. Senior centerfielder Judd Ward, another Auburn signee, then stroked a line drive down the right-field line for an RBI triple to chase home Garrison and tie the game. Junior Landon Ezzell followed with a squeeze bunt, and Ward raced home to put Russellville on top 2-1.
“How about Ezzell getting down that squeeze? That was huge,” Heaps said. “We had some guys do some good things at the plate today. Colin had some good at bats. Judd had some good at bats. Cody got a big double for us, and Holland came through with a two-out hit to drive in a run.”
Greenhill retired the side in order in the bottom of the third, and Luttrell followed suit in the top of the fourth, striking out two. Greenhill got the first two men in the bottom of the fourth and had set down six in a row before walking Taylor on four pitches. Taylor moved to second on a wild pitch and then scored when Rose’s high chopper found the hole between third and short for an RBI single to tie the game.
The Golden Tigers went back in front for good in the top of the fifth. Ward walked with one out but was cut down at second trying to advance on a ball in the dirt. Luttrell followed with another walk to Ezzell, and then Greenhill, who had seen a steady diet of breaking balls all day, smacked a fastball off the base of the left-field fence for a double.
With runners at second and third, Luttrell started his motion toward the plate and then suddenly stopped just as he was about to release the pitch. He was called for a balk, allowing Ezzell to trot home with the go-ahead run. Holland then lined a pitch to right field to bring home courtesy runner Colton Madden and make it 4-2.
Greenhill struck out East to start the bottom of the fifth but then fell behind 3-and-0 against Luttrell. Greenhill worked his way back into a full count and then got a called third strike with a fastball on the outside corner. Ray singled with two outs, but Greenhill struck out Andrew Gravel to end the inning.
Holland, also a senior right-hander, relieved to start the bottom of the sixth and pitched around a two-out double by Taylor to keep it a 4-2 game. He then struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh, buzzing through the 3-4-5 spots in the Bob Jones order to nail down his fourth save of the season.
Holland struck out four in two scoreless innings, throwing 21 of his 31 pitches for strikes. Garrison, Ward, Greenhill and Holland each had one hit for Russellville.
The Golden Tigers, ranked third in Class 5A, are scheduled to play two games Saturday at Helena High School. Russellville will face Class 7A Huntsville at 12:30 p.m. before taking on the host Huskies (ranked No. 4 in Class 6A) at 3 p.m.
