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Supreme pitching and good baserunning allowed Springwood to sweep Southern Prep in a Tuesday doubleheader. 

Game One: Springwood 14, Southern Prep 3

In a makeup of Monday’s game, which was delayed due to weather, the Wildcats squashed Southern Prep 14-3. 

Russell Lauderdale had a superb day from the mound, pitching a no-hitter through four innings. 

Springwood took an early lead. A two-out single by Cooper King got the Wildcats on the board in the top of the first inning. 

Southern Prep’s defense struggled, handing Springwood early opportunities. Wes Carden walked early in the second, moving over to second base with a balk by the pitcher. He then gets himself to third with a steal. Finally, the speedy Carden crosses home on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. 

Springwood pulled ahead during a big third inning. Bentley Hussey knocks a lead-off single and makes his way to third by steals. Another balk by Prep’s Pitcher gives Springwood another run. 

The Wildcats were bolstered by great base running. A series of walks and an error notched two more runs in the third. Finally, a single by Austin Hanvey brings home the sixth run and final run of the inning. 

Luke Moon gets the lead-off single in the fourth. Hussey moves him over on a sac bunt, and Moon scores on an error. 

A Southern Prep error and back-to-back singles by Springwood’s Julian Karbe and Moon put the Lanett team’s lead at 9-0 going into the bottom of the fifth. 

For the first time all game Lauderdale showed signs of struggle. After a quick strikeout, the starter gave up a single and a walk. He looked to calm down with a second strikeout. Then, a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases.

Unfortunately for Springwood a passed ball and subsequent fielder’s interference reversed an inning ending out and added one run for Prep. Then, a fielder’s choice and error added two more.

Lauderdale got the job done however, throwing a final strikeout to keep the score at 9-3. The pitcher would settle in after with a three strikeout, one hit sixth inning. 

The Springwood offense had another big inning in the seventh. Five straight walks, two of which were hit-by-pitch, and a few passed balls added four runs to the scoreboard. Then a Hussey single made it 14-3. After that, the Wildcats cruised to victory.

Launderdale ended his six innings of work with three earned runs on two hits and a staggering 14 strikeouts.

Hussey led the team in hits with three. Moon and King had two apiece. 

Game Two: Springwood 8, Southern Prep 3

For the first time on Tuesday, Southern Prep took the lead in the second inning of Game 2. An error allowed a Ranger to get on base. Two passed balls got him across the dish for a 1-0 lead. 

Neither side could do much as the defenses looked solid. Prep would get back on the score sheet in the top of the fourth inning. Three walks quickly put Springwood in a pickle. A passed ball would notch a third run for the visitors. 

The Wildcats finally had an answer in the bottom of the inning. Two leadoff walks got runners on and a Karbe bunt loaded the bases. Southern Prep then hit Moon to walk in Springwood’s first run of the game. A balk walked in another. 

It was a clutch line drive double by Hussey that gave Springwood a 4-3 lead, one that the Wildca’s would not give up. Hussey would later score on an error for another run. The next two runs of the game were all scored on errors by Southern Prep, and the final by Lauderdale on a passed ball. 

Springwood only had three hits in the game. Hussey, Tucker Sides and Karbe all tallied a hit each. Hussey and Launderdale had two RBIs.

Game Three: Springwood 8, Southern Prep 0

The final game of the evening was an easy three inning 8-0 win. Hussey got the bats going with a lead-off single in the bottom of the first. Another single by Sides moves him over to third, setting up a sacrifice bunt by King to score the first run. Sides then scored on an error to go up two runs.

More singles by Carden and Hanvey put the score at 4-0 after one frame. The Springwood defense did not give Prep many opportunities in Game three.

Moon got in on the fun with a single to start off the bottom of the second. Hussey came through again with a monster triple to right field, batting in his teammate and then scoring on an error.

A walk by Jax Cheeny put the fast baserunner on and a King single brought him around the base path. The final run came from King stealing home on a passed ball.

King and Hanvey led the team with two RBIs apiece, followed by Hussey with one RBI. Hussey also led the team with two hits. Six Wildcats got a hit in game three, for the strongest offensive outing of the day.

That would be all she wrote for Southern Prep. The Wildcats completed their three-game sweep, bouncing back from a tough March. The Wildcats are now 4-9 on the season.