Sweet Water sweeps its way into Class 1A title series
Reid Joiner fields a grounder at second base.
Sweet Water is headed back to the AHSAA, Class 1A state championship series after sweeping rival Millry in the semifinal round Thursday night.
Sweet Water 4, Millry 1
The Bulldogs, who downed Millry 4-1 in the opener, rode the dominant arm of staff ace Jonah Smith for 10 strikeouts and a complete game victory. Sweet Water loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the first inning before Chance Broussard singled in Trent Sams for the 1-0 lead. Sasha Smith scored on an error for the 2-0 advantage.
Jonah Smith slides safely into home.
Millry got to Jonah Smith in the top of the fourth when they opened the inning with four straight singles. Trey Lewis scored on Tate Warr’s liner to left to cut the deficit to 2-1. After Riley Hill loaded the bases with a bunt single, Smith dug in and struck out the next three hitters to nullify the threat.
The Bulldogs got that run back in the bottom of the fifth when John Thomas Etheridge was hit by a pitch and consecutive errors allowed him to score. Sweet Water added an insurance run in the home half of the sixth when Luke Davis doubled and gave way to courtesy runner Xavier Lucy. He advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Shamar Lewis’s sacrifice fly.
Sasha Smith needed only 80 pitches to pick up the complete game win and put Sweet Water into the state championship round.
Sweet Water 8, Millry 5
Where Jonah Smith starred on the mound in game one, it was younger brother Sasha Smith that efficiently carved up the Wildcat lineup in the nightcap. He scattered seven hits over seven innings while using only 80 pitches for the complete game win.
Sams singled to open the game ahead of a Jonah Smith walk. Etheridge singled on a play that saw Sams and Smith score on an error for the 2-0 lead. Millry rallied in the bottom of the third. Lewis singled and scored on Garrett Norton’s double. Warr then singled in Norton to tie the game.
Joiner and Shamar Lewis each singled in the top of the fourth and scored on a double to right by Sams for the 4-2 lead. Jonah Smith doubled home Lewis to make it 5-2. Chance Broussard singled to open the fifth and scored on Davis’s triple. Lewis then made it back-to-back triples to plate Davis for the 7-2 advantage. Braiden Broussard singled in Lucy in the sixth for the final Bulldog run of the series.
Millry made a run at it in the home half of the seventh as John Norton and Garrett Norton each reached on an error. Warr later homered to cut the deficit to 8-5 but the Wildcats could draw no closer.
The reigning, defending, undisputed Class 1A state champion, Sweet Water will get a chance to repeat next week. The Bulldogs are set to play at Paterson Field in Montgomery Wednesday at 4 p.m. against the winner of the Spring Garden/South Lamar series.