Ethel will face Richton in the next round of the 1A baseball playoffs after stretching its winning streak to 17 with a sweep of Enterprise-Lincoln, 13-3 and 12-1.
“Enterprise is not a bad team. We just played really well,” said coach Chris Schuster. “We had a couple of good innings that kind of broke it open. But they're a good team. You can't take anything away from them.”
In the 13-3 game, both teams committed five errors, resulting in 10 unearned Ethel runs and all three Richton runs were unearned.
Four hits, two errors, two walks and two hit batters resulted in seven Ethel runs in the first inning. The Tigers added one in the second, two in the third, one in the fourth and two in the sixth.
Kaden Adams had a single and a double with two RBIs and two runs scored. Cyrus Rone had two hits and Kameron McCuller doubled. McCuller pitched five innings allowing four hits with three strikeouts.
Three Tiger errors resulted in Enterprise's three runs in the fourth inning, but Schuster said they were tough chances.
The big inning in the 12-1 game was the second when three hit batters and two walks led to six runs. Rone had a two-run double during the rally.
Adams pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five hits and no earned runs, with five strikeouts. McCuller and Tyler Weaver each had two hits.
Because Ethel won Region 5-1A and Richton was second in 8-1A, the Tigers will be at home to begin the series Friday at 7 p.m. Game 2 will be at Richton Saturday, with a third game at Ethel if needed.
“They're going to be better than Enterprise. I don't know how much better, but they going to be better,” Schuster said. “I'm just glad we have the home field advantage.”
Richton advanced with 15-0 and 13-1 wins over Noxapater, a team Ethel defeated 13-0 and 10-0. Sam Henderson had a homer and a single for Richton in both Noxapater games, totaling seven RBIs.
Schuster said there have been three keys to the Tigers' success. “The number one thing that had to happen was our seniors had to have a good year and all of our seniors are having a good year. The second thing that had to happen is our juniors had to fill a role and become role players. All of our juniors have accepted their roles and done a great job,” said Schuster. “And the third thing that had to happen was our sophomores had to grow up, and our sophomores have really grown up.”
