Pirates win county baseball tournament

GUIN — The Winfield Pirates won the 2025 Marion County baseball tournament on Saturday, March 8.
The tournament began the day before with a game between the Phillips Bears and the Brilliant Tigers.
The Tigers scored 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Bears scored one in the top of the second, but the Tigers started to run away with the lead by scoring 7 runs in the bottom of the second.
The Bears were able to score three more runs in the top of the third, but the Tigers scored 11 more runs in the bottom of the third, and the game was called early in the Tigers’ favor 20-4.
For the Tigers, B. Tucker scored the most runs with 4, followed by Luke Norris and Talen Odom with 3 each, Levi Norris and Caden Yielding with 2 each and Braxton Lee, Jack Bell, Blake Jenkins and Hagen Dickinson with 1 each.
Dickinson batted in 3 runs, followed by Jenkins, Levi Norris and Lee with 1 RBI each.
Up next, the Winfield Pirates played the Hackleburg Panthers.
While both teams got a few hits in, neither pitcher (Blaise Vickery for Hackleburg or Kyson Key for Winfield) allowed for any runs for the first several innings of the game.
That was until Blaine Bowen made it home on a hit from Hayden Ballard to score the first run of the game.
The Panthers were unable to answer in the sixth inning, but the Pirates were able to dial in and scored six more runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The Panthers got one more shot in the top of the seventh, but two strikeouts and an out at first base ended the game at a 7-0 victory for the Pirates.
Vickery threw 6 strikeouts for the Panthers, walking three batters and allowing 7 runs.
For the Pirates, Key threw 8 strikeouts and 1 walk while allowing 3 hits.
Next up, the Tigers advanced to play the Marion County Red Raiders later Friday afternoon.
The Raiders were the first to score with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. The Tigers scored one run in the top of the third, but after that, the Raiders took control and scored 8 more points to win the game 11-1.
Luke Norris scored the Tigers’ one run. On the mound, Dickinson threw five strikeouts but allowed one walk and five runs during the four innings he pitched.
For the Raiders, Caleb Knight struck out 15 batters, only allowing five hits and one run.
The next round saw Winfield advance to play the Hamilton Aggies to determine who would play Marion County for the county championship game.
Winfield scored three runs at the top of the first, answered by two from the Aggies. Another run from Hamilton in the bottom of the second tied the game 3-3.
In the top of the fourth, the Pirates rallied and scored four runs while shutting the Aggies down for the rest of the game.
One more Pirate run in the sixth inning put the Pirates in the final round with an 8-3 victory over Hamilton.
Ballard scored three runs, followed by May with 2 and Walt Hennicke and Brayden McCaleb with 1 each. Ballard also batted in 2 runs, and McCaleb doubled that with 4. Hennicke and May hit one RBI each.
On the mound, May threw 10 strikeouts while allowing 3 runs from 8 hits and 2 walks.
Mason Holloway, Houston Tibbs and Dylan Frederick scored the Aggies’ three runs.
Tibbs and Holloway each pitched for about half of the game. Tibbs allowed five runs from seven hits, while striking out 1 batter and giving up three walks.
Holloway allowed three runs from four hits and one walk, but he struck out five batters.
The championship game was played the next day, Saturday, March 8, between Winfield and Marion County.
The Pirates were the first to score in the top of the first inning, taking a 2-point lead. They added a third point in the top of the second, all while keeping the Red Raiders from scoring.
The top of the third inning was when the Pirates rallied, scoring a total of 9 runs.
Marion County was able to get one run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the game was called after the third out to give the Pirates the win 12-1.
Hennicke scored three runs, followed by Carter Ayers and May with 2 each, then Ballard, Bowen, McCaleb, Morgan and Haney with 1 run each.
On the mound, Hennicke threw 8 strikeouts and 4 walks, allowing 1 run from 2 hits.
The Pirates stole 11 bases and made no errors in the field.
Roman Bellamy batted in the one run for the Raiders. On the mound, Brody Moody gave up 10 runs on 11 hits with no walks or strikeouts.
Brilliant, Hackleburg, Marion County and Phillips went on to play in the NAC Tournament last Friday.