Alex Rollins may be the smallest guy physically on the Hixson baseball team, but the 17-year-old junior is a warrior and has a heart the size of Texas.
He's the epitome of a Wildcat with his fierce and competitive attitude, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he was a key factor in Hixson’s 8-1 win over Signal Mountain in the winner’s bracket of the District 6-AA tournament at Red Bank Monday night.
These two teams has split during the regular season, but the Eagles had a better league record and were thus afforded the top seed in the tournament.
That didn’t seem to matter much to the Wildcats as they scored single runs in each of the first four innings before putting the game out of reach with four more in the seventh.
Rollins allowed a run-scoring single to Drew Lowry in the fifth, but he was in control from the start as she scattered three other singles as Hixson improved to 19-13 with its biggest win of the season to this point.
And while the 5-6, 120-pound bulldog was having his way on the mound, he also had a big night at the plate as he had two hits, two runs batted in and scored three times.
It was his two-run triple with two outs in the seventh that may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for the Eagles.
“I’m still pumped and ready to go,” Rollins said after the game.
“I felt good warming up as my breaking ball was moving, but those early runs really helped to boost my confidence. We knew it would be a battle with those guys, but we smacked it pretty good and that last hit for me made me feel really good as I hit it on the nose. I never saw where it landed, but I heard the crowd cheering and the outfielder chasing the ball, so I just kept running.
“I’ve struggled with walks in the last few games and that’s something I need to work on, but this is definitely the most exciting game we’ve played this season,” he added.
Hixson coach Colton Green had all the confidence in the world when his spunky junior went to the mound.
“Alex was definitely a warrior out there, but he’s pitched in big games for us before and he pitched like it tonight,” the coach praised Rollins.
“I never felt comfortable with a 4-1 lead, but I felt a lot better when we made it 8-1. I’m pretty sure this was our best game of the year as we were solid all around. We made some nice plays defensively and we also got some clutch hits, but this tournament isn’t over.
“We still have to come back and be ready to play Wednesday afternoon,” Green smiled.
Signal Mountain coach Josh Gandy wasn’t real pleased, but he was happy to know that the season isn’t over.
“They had 10 hits and we allowed seven walks, so I’m personally surprised it went seven innings,” he began after a lengthy talk with his team.
“It seemed like we had runners on base every inning, but were unable to get the big hit. I thought Tucker Smith did a good job keeping us in the game as he gave us a chance, but those four runs they got in the seventh were huge.
“Hixson did a good job of not letting us take advantage of our opportunities. The good news is that we get to play again, but Red Bank had a big win today and we better be ready to play,” the Eagle coach nodded.
The Eagles were retired in order in the first, but that was the only time as they left eight runners stranded, including two in the second and third and one more in each of the final four innings.
Jack Julian and Rollins were the only Hixson players with two hits, but every other starter for the Wildcats except second baseman Matthew Songer had at least one hit.
Julian had three runs batted in and Rollins two. Vaughn Coblentz drove in a run with a single in the first while Jeremiah Shackleford’s double in the third drove in another. Designated hitter Manny Velazquez drove in the other run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Signal Mountain finished with four singles and only in the third when Mark Jones and Scott Payne had back-to-back hits to lead off did the Eagles have two in the same inning.
Lowry’s two-out single in the fifth drove in Signal’s only run while Carter Cannon had a leadoff single in the sixth, but was stranded at second.
HIXSON 111 100 4 – 8 10 1
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 000 010 0 – 1 4 2
Rollins and Julian; Farr, Guagendi (3), Smith (4) and Cannon.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)