Black Sox off to undefeated start as travel baseball season heats up – Franklin County Times

The summer travel baseball season got off to a winning start for the Black Sox 17-U team.

The Black Sox opened their season with a 4-0 record while playing games in Oxford, Ala. The squad features many high school players from northwest Alabama and is coached by Brian Pace.

In the first game, the Sox defeated TPL National 17-U by a final score of 5-1. The Black Sox took a 1-0 lead in the second inning and scored two additional runs in both the fifth and sixth frames. Russellville High School’s Eli Boutwell had a hit and one RBI. Olsen Howard added a home run and Jay Marbutt had a double and a RBI. Jacob Alexander and Evan Cagle also drove-in runs. Additional Black Sox hits came from Keaton Lance, Jacob Alexander, Sam Arnold, Evan Cagle and Eli Cagle.

Alexander pitched five innings and got the win by going five innings. The starter allowed three hits and one unearned run. Alexander struck out six batters and walked one. HT Blanke pitched two innings. He allowed no hits and struck out two batters.

The Black Sox improved to 2-0 with a 7-1 victory over TPL American 17-U. Two runs in the top half of the first inning gave the Sox the start they needed. A second-inning RBI by Eli Boutwell on a ground-out added to the advantage. The Black Sox later added three runs in the fifth inning and one in the sixth.

Eli Cagle had two hits and one RBI while Blanke also had two hits including a double. Olsen Howard added the other Black Sox hit.

Brady Wilson got the start on the mound and got the win. Wilson struck out five batters during five innings of work and allowed two hits and no runs. Nash Hargrave pitched two innings and struck out three batters.

Day two in Oxford started with a 9-7 win by the Black Sox over Top Gun 18-U. Trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Sox got a three-run double by Jay Marbutt to earn the walk-off win as part of a six-run final frame.

Russellville’s Brayden Entrekin had a big game going 3-for-3 at the plate including a triple and a double. Entrekin had one RBI and also scored a run for the Black Sox. Blanke and Alexander each had two RBI while Evan Cagle added one. Alexander, Eli Cagle and Evan Cagle had two hits each while Lance and Blanke also hit safely. Conner Mosley and Blanke did the pitching.

The Black Sox improved to 4-0 with a 4-3 win over Top Gun Birmingham. Sox batters collected 13 hits and Evan Cagle led the way with three. The Russellville duo of Boutwell and Entrekin had two hits each with Boutwell smacking a double. Marbutt also had a double while  Alexander and Wilson both had a two-hit game. Blanke added a hit and one RBI while Evan Cagle, Alexander and Wilson also drove-in one run each.

Marbutt pitched five innings and struck out six. Brayden Entrekin was on the mound for two scoreless innings and allowed one hit. Entrekin struck out five batters and walked one.