Sweet Water thrashes Florala, advances to second round

SWEET WATER – Tandem no-hitters and a relentless offense allowed Sweet Water to deal a crushing sweep to Florala Friday in the first round of the Class 1A state baseball playoffs.

SWEET WATER 14, FLORALA 0

J.T. Etheridge struck out 11 over five no-hit innings without walking a batter for the victory in game one.

The Sweet Water bats started to back their ace pitcher in the third inning when the Bulldogs erupted for a five-run rally. Not content to stop there, Sweet Water added nine more runs in the fourth to put the game away. The Bulldogs tallied 14 hits – all singles – in the effort.

Braiden Broussard finished 3-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored. Sasha Smith had two hits, four RBIs and two runs scored. Etheridge and Reed Joiner each notched two hits and drove in two. Chance Broussard went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and one RBI.

Chastain Washington, Michael Allen Cole, and Walker Thompson each recorded one hit. Jayland Horton-Lewis and Trace Luker scored twice each.

SWEET WATER 23, FLORALA 0

Things got no better for Florala in game two. Chance Broussard worked a no-hitter of his own, striking out 11 over five innings of work while issuing one walk.

The Bulldogs put together 17 hits in the drubbing. Joiner led the pack with three hits, two RBIs and a run scored. Horton-Lewis, Cole, Smith, Layshon Young, Braiden Broussard and Chance Broussard had two hits each. C.J. White and Etheridge had one hit apiece.

Cole drove in four runs. Joiner, Luker and Horton-Lewis had two RBIs each.

The Bulldogs will face the winner of the Maplesville/Verbena series next weekend in the second round of the playoffs.