While Russellville was busy establishing itself as a high school baseball dynasty with three consecutive Class 5A state titles from 2015 to 2017, Madison Academy was doing the very same thing at the 3A level, bringing home Blue Maps in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Now, three years removed from the last trip to Montgomery for either, two of the preeminent programs in Alabama will square off this week with a berth in the state finals on the line.
The Golden Tigers will travel to Madison to meet the Mustangs in a Class 5A semifinal series set to begin with a Wednesday doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m. Game 3, if necessary, is scheduled for Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The winner of this week's showdown will advance to face either Pike Road or St. Paul's next Monday and Tuesday in Montgomery.
Here's a sneak peek at the key players and statistics for Russellville and Madison Academy heading into Wednesday's series-opening clash.
Russellville Golden Tigers
Overall record: 38-6
Area record: 4-0 (champions of Area 15)
First-round results: Swept Boaz 11-0 and 14-3
Second-round results: Took two of three from Corner (won 10-2, lost 8-3, won 8-3)
Third-round results: Swept Alexandria 6-1 and 9-0 (in nine innings)
Current streak: Won three straight games and 24 of last 26
Runs scored this season: 293 (6.7 per game)
Runs allowed this season: 104 (2.4 per game)
Head coach: Chris Heaps (258-110 record at RHS; 45-12 playoff record with three Class 5A state championships)
Team Batting: 362 hits in 1,191 AB (.304 average), 20 HR, 6 TR, 54 DB, .405 OBP, 13 sac bunts, 17 sac flies
Projected Lineup (with 2021 stats for all 44 games, regular season and playoffs)
SS Eli Gipson (Junior) - .333 BA/.441 OBP/.422 SLG, 1 HR, 5 DB, 19 RBI, 32 R
Notes: Gipson went 3-for-6 with three walks, two doubles and four runs scored in a quarterfinal sweep of Alexandria.
1B Jackson Lindsey (Senior) - .384/.488/.616, 4 HR, 3 TR, 14 DB, 33 RBI, 40 R
Notes: Lindsey has hit safely in 10 straight games and leads the Golden Tigers with 16 multi-hit games on the season--two of which came last week against Alexandria. He is three hits shy of 100 for his varsity career.
3B Nick Smith (Senior) - .282/.445/.427, 4 HR, 5 DB, 35 RBI, 23 R
Notes: Smith has reached base via walk or hit-by-pitch 36 times this season, tops on the team.
C Canyon Pace (Junior) - .308/.359/.415, 3 HR, 1 TR, 3 DB, 36 RBI, 8 R
Notes: Pace has collected 10 hits and nine RBIs in seven playoff games thus far.
DH Reed Hill (Junior) - .286/.338/.338, 7 DB, 28 RBI, 19 R
Notes: Hill had three hits and three RBIs in last week's sweep of Alexandria and currently has a five-game hit streak.
2B Cole Barnett (Senior) - .300/.414/.500, 6 HR, 4 DB, 25 RBI, 36 R
Notes: Barnett ranks first among current Golden Tigers with 73 career runs scored and second with 75 hits.
LF Grayson Thorpe (Junior) - .327/.407/.442, 3 TR, 7 DB, 31 RBI, 29 R
Notes: Thorpe's total of 60 combined runs scored and RBIs ranks third on the team behind only Lindsey (73) and Barnett (61).
CF Casen Heaps (Sophomore) - .299/.387/.390, 2 HR, 1 DB, 11 RBI, 23 R
Notes: Heaps has hit safely in eight straight games, batting .417 (10-for-24) during that stretch.
RF J.D. Bishop (Senior) - .260/.408/.274, 1 DB, 17 RBI, 20 R
Notes: Bishop's 19 walks this season are fourth-most on the team.
Team Pitching: 38-6 record, 1.96 ERA, 296 IP, 218 hits, 338 K, 118 BB, 33 HBP
Key Pitchers (with 2021 stats for all 44 games, regular season and playoffs):
Emitt Green (Junior): 11-1 record, 1.14 ERA, 67.1 IP, 46 hits, 68 K, 16 BB, 5 CG, 3 SHO
Notes: Green is 14-2 in his varsity career with a 1.87 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 93.2 innings.
Rowe Gallagher (Senior): 9-1, 1.43 ERA, 53.2 IP, 35 hits, 64 K, 11 BB, 1 CG
Notes: Gallagher delivered his best playoff start to date last week, holding Alexandria to two hits in 4.2 scoreless innings.
Gordon White (Senior): 6-1, 2.50 ERA, 42 IP, 40 hits, 41 K, 11 BB, 1 CG
Notes: White is 14-5 in his varsity career with a 2.37 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 115.1 innings.
Reed Hill (Junior): 3-0, 2.55 ERA, 33 IP, 21 hits, 47 K, 21 BB, 1 SV
Notes: Hill earned the win in the series clincher against Alexandria, allowing just one hit in 4.1 scoreless innings of relief.
Samuel Pace (Junior): 4-0, 0.76 ERA, 32.1 IP, 22 hits, 41 K, 10 BB, 2 SV
Notes: Pace is fresh, having not pitched since Game 2 of a second-round series against Corner.
Ethan Oliver (Junior): 2-2, 2.54 ERA, 30.1 IP, 20 hits, 33 K, 14 BB, 3 SV
Notes: Oliver can be effective for multi-inning stretches, as evidenced by his complete-game win over Scottsboro in April.
Banks Langston (Sophomore): 2-1, 4.38 ERA, 24 IP, 25 hits, 25 K, 25 BB
Notes: Langston finished the regular season in strong fashion, allowing just one earned run over his last 9.1 innings.
Madison Academy Mustangs
Overall record: 31-10
Area record: 8-0 (champions of Area 16)
First-round results: Swept Fairview 11-0 and 14-1
Second-round results: Swept St. Clair County 4-1 and 6-3
Third-round results: Swept Hayden 7-3 and 7-4
Current streak: Won seven straight games and 15 of last 16
Runs scored this season: 346 (8.4 per game)
Runs allowed this season: 141 (3.4 per game)
Head coach: David Pressley
Team Batting: 373 hits in 1,109 AB (.336 average), 11 HR, 18 TR, 98 DB, .436 OBP, 10 sac bunts, 16 sac flies
Projected Lineup (with 2021 stats for seven playoff games only):
P Kai Watson (Senior) - 7 hits in 18 AB, 2 DB, 4 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB
LF Ryan Harness (Senior) - 9 hits in 17 AB, 1 TR, 5 DB, 11 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB
CF Alex Wade (Junior) - 6 hits in 15 AB, 1 TR, 2 DB, 6 RBI, 6 R, 5 BB
C Jackson Hirschler (Senior) - 7 hits in 17 AB, 1 HR, 2 DB, 4 RBI, 1 R, 2 BB
Notes: Hirschler leads the Mustangs with five HR on the season.
DH Avery Seaton (Senior) - 6 hits in 20 AB, 1 HR, 2 DB, 5 RBI, 3 R
SS Brady Merriweather (Senior) - 5 hits in 19 AB, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 5 R, 1 BB
RF James Slaughter (Senior) - 5 hits in 17 AB, 1 TR, 1 DB, 4 RBI, 6 R
1B Brant Benson (Senior) - 3 hits in 14 AB, 2 DB, 3 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB
3B Blake Helton (Senior) - 4 hits in 15 AB, 1 RBI, 8 R
Team Pitching: 31-10 record, 2.66 ERA, 258 IP, 194 hits, 354 K, 117 BB, 23 HBP
Key Pitchers (with 2021 stats for all 41 games, regular season and playoffs):
Kai Watson (Senior): 11-1, 1.81 ERA, 73.2 IP, 48 hits, 106 K, 13 BB
Note: Watson is 3-0 in these playoffs with three complete games and 28 strikeouts in 19 innings.
Avery Seaton (Senior): 9-1, 2.09 ERA, 57 IP, 46 hits, 82 K, 23 BB
Matt Manley (Sophomore): 6-2, 2.38 ERA, 32.1 IP, 19 hits, 52 K, 22 BB, 2 SV
Josh Bingham (Senior): 2-0, 2.33 ERA, 21 IP, 18 hits, 27 K, 11 BB
Brant Benson (Senior): 1-2, 4.39 ERA, 22.1 IP, 30 hits, 16 K, 7 BB, 1 SV
Jackson Hirschler (Senior): 0-0, 3.82 ERA, 11 IP, 8 hits, 23 K, 4 BB
