Sweet Water drops Clarke County, Thomasville in Tuesday twin bill

Sweet Water (5-1) dominated both ends of a double header against a pair of foes Tuesday night, downing Clarke County 12-2 and Thomasville 5-0.

Sweet Water 12, Clarke County 2

Sweet Water found itself in a tight one with the Bulldogs from Grove Hill until the halfway point in the game. After Clarke took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Sweet Water got right to work in the home half. Sasha Smith singled before Jonah Smith doubled to open the turn for the reigning Class 1A champions. Courtesy runner Trent Sams scored on a passed ball before Braiden Broussard singled to right to drive in Jonah for the 2-1 lead.

Clarke County manufactured another run to tie the game in the top of the second inning. The stalemate proved short lived as Reid Joiner opened the home half with a single. Two batters later, Chastian Washington singled home Joiner for the 3-2 lead.

The score stayed right there until there were two away in the bottom of the fourth. Joiner singled and later scored on a Shamar Lewis double. Sasha Smith followed with a single to right to plate Washington and Lewis to stretch it to 6-2. Jonah Smith followed with a single before Broussard brought both Smith brothers and himself home with a three-run shot to center.

Sweet Water got back to it in the bottom of the fifth. Joiner and John Thomas Etheridge singled to start the rally. Washington hit a sacrifice fly to left to plate Joiner. Lewis doubled in Etheridge to push it to 11-2.

Sweet Water ended the game by virtue of the run rule in the bottom of the sixth when Broussard doubled in Sams for the final run of the game.

Broussard finished with five RBIs while Washington, Lewis and Sasha Smith added two apiece. Sasha Smith netted the win with four innings of five-hit, two-run work.

Sweet Water 5, Thomasville 0  

Sweet Water handed the ball to its ace in the nightcap, besting Thomasville for the second time this season with a 5-0 victory. Thomasville senior William Chaney held his own against the Sweet Water lineup, striking out six batters and scattering five hits over five innings of work while allowing only one earned run. Chaney fell victim, in part, to five Thomasville errors that helped generate four unearned runs.

Smith was as effective as ever while carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Corrigan Thibodeaux flipped a 1-0 offering to right for a single to lead off the seventh, accounting for the only Thomasville hit of the game.

Sweet Water entered the bottom of the fourth with only one hit to its credit, a Chance Broussard single in the second. Jonah Smith changed the complexion of the game with his bat in the bottom of the fourth when he hit a leadoff double. Two batters later, Joiner singled home courtesy runner Trent Sams to put Sweet Water on top 1-0. Joiner then scored on a Luke Davis grounder to stretch it to 2-0. Another error allowed courtesy runner Xavier Lucy to score. A third consecutive error allowed Chance Broussard to score for the 4-0 lead.

Brraiden Broussard reached on an error to open the fifth, stole second and scored on a wild pitch two batters later for the final run of the game.

Jonah struck out eight batters over his seven innings of work, needing only 87 pitches for the complete game shutout.