The Russellville varsity baseball team opened the 2020 season with a road game versus Hartselle followed by a home double-header against Westbrook Christian School.

Feb. 13 the Golden Tigers traveled to Cullman to take on the Hartselle Tigers. The game originally scheduled to be played at HHS was moved to the artificial surface field at Cullman because of wet field conditions.

Hartselle got the win over Russellville by a 7-2 score.

Gordon White got the start on the mound for RHS. He went 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits. White struck out three and walked a batter in the loss.

Logan White followed in relief, giving up three runs, with one being earned, over 1.1 innings.  Emitt Green finished up the game by pitching two innings, allowing no hits or runs, and he struck out four.

Canyon Pace led RHS at the plate with two hits and one RBI. Will Rogers went one-for-two with a run scored, and Casen Heaps scored the other Russellville run.

Nick Smith was one-for-three, including a double.

Russellville’s home-opener was Feb. 17, as the Westbrook Christian Warriors came to town for a double-header. RHS swept the two games, winning the first by a 6-3 score and the second by a 4-3 final.

“I was really pleased with our guys,” said Russellville head coach Chris Heaps. “I thought our pitchers did a good job of keeping them off balance and throwing strikes. We had some big hits at times, and we played really good defense, and that was a key.”

In the game one win, Cole Barnett went three-for-three with four RBIs, including a triple that brought home three runs. He also scored a run and walked once.

Rogers went two-for-three with a run scored, while Casen Heaps and Nick Smith also had hits. Meanwhile, Pace and Gordon White had one RBI apiece.

Green got the start on the mound, and he went 4.1 innings. He allowed two runs on two hits while walking four and striking out three.

Logan White came on in relief, giving up one run on two hits over 2.2 innings of work. He struck out three and walked a batter.

Russellville improved its record to 2-1 with a 4-3 extra-innings win in game two versus Westbrook Christian.

Eli Gipson scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Gordon White got the start for RHS. He pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out four and walking one. Rowe Gallagher came on in relief, giving up no runs and two hits in an inning while picking up a strikeout.

Brayden Heaps followed, and he pitched 1.1 innings. He allowed one run and one hit while striking out one and walking one.

Ethan Oliver was the final Russellville pitcher, getting the final two outs of the top of the eighth inning. He allowed no hits or walks, and he struck out a batter.

LSU commit Samuel Dutton got the start for WCS.  He worked three innings, allowing no hits or runs while striking out six RHS batters.

Gordon White had two hits in the win, while Pace, Smith, Gipson and Rogers all had one hit apiece.