Cullman races past Decatur, clinches area series
Mar. 24—The Decatur Red Raiders couldn't keep up with Cullman on Thursday evening in a Class 6A, Area 14 contest.
Coming off a 6-3 loss to the Bearcats on Tuesday, the Red Raiders hoped to even the series and set up a winner-take-all Game 3.
It was not to be, however, as Cullman won 10-0 in five innings, clinching the series.
Decatur got into a jam early on when Cullman loaded the bases in the first inning with no outs, but the Red Raiders managed to get out of the inning with minimal damage, allowing just one run on a sacrifice fly.
But eventually the Red Raiders' mistakes would catch up with them. Decatur allowed four walks and committed five errors, and Cullman exploded for four runs in the third inning to take control of the game.
"It got out of hand in a hurry," said Decatur head coach Jason Russell. "We walked two or three, gave up a base hit, made an error, and it downfalled from there."
Cullman finished with nine hits to Decatur's one, which came from Bradin Dupper.
To have a shot at the playoffs, Decatur will now have to win at least one series against Muscle Shoals and Class 6A No. 1-ranked Hartselle. But while that seems like a tall task, Russell said his team won't shy away from the challenge.
"We just have to compete," Russell said. "Every pitch, every at bat, we have to be ready to compete and that's what we're going to do."
