Ethel hardly needed to break a sweat in an opening round 1A baseball sweep of South Delta, 10-0 and 22-0. The first game lasted four and a half innings, the second two and a half. Up next is a series with Enterprise Lincoln beginning Friday.
Three pitchers combined for five hitless innings in the 10-0 game. Kaden Adams pitched the first with one strikeout. Colin White and Gabe Cain each went two innings, with four strikeouts each.
Brady White led the offense with a single and a double, two RBIs, and three runs scored. Kameron McCuller had two hits. Brent Bell and Cyrus Rone each doubled.
In the 22-0 game, the Tiger scored 10 runs in the first and 12 in the second. The Tigers had only six hits but benefited from 18 walks and four South Delta errors. Rone had two hits and a walk, scored three runs, and drove in two.
McCuller, Wes Bishop, and Hayden Langford each pitched a hitless inning, combining for six strikeouts. Langford closed out the game and the series by striking out the side in the third.
Enterprise finished second in Region 7-1A and opened the playoffs with 2-1 and 7-1 victories over Lumberton, the third place team from 8-1A.
Ethel coach Chris Schuster said he does not know much about Enterprise. He added, “If we play well, we have a really good change to advance.”
Looking ahead, the 1A bracket is favorable to Ethel. The top two ranked teams in the state, Resurrection and Taylorsville, are in the South, but Ethel would only have to play one of them. Taylorsville won 2A last year and Resurrection eliminated Ethel in the third round. Both won their opening round series — Taylorsville against Salem and Resurrection against Mount Olive. If they win their next series, they will meet in the third round. Taylorsville plays Sebastopol and Resurrection plays French Camp.
Ethel will be at home to open the Enterprise series Friday, with first pitch at 7 p.m. Game two will be 7 p.m. Saturday at Enterprise in Brookhaven. If a third game is needed, Ethel will host Monday. The next round begins May 6.
