Ardmore to host Madison Co. in 2nd round

Published 4:59 pm Monday, April 22, 2013

Ardmore will stay at home for its second-round playoff series Friday. The Tigers will host Madison County Friday at 5 and 7 p.m.

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Ardmore punched its ticket to the second round of the AHSAA baseball playoffs Saturday with a sweep of North Jackson. The game was postponed from Friday due to flooding on the field.

Ardmore started the postseason with a bang, scoring 17 runs in the first inning on its way to a 21-2 victory in the opening game. The Tigers began the game on fire and led 17-0 before North Jackson could get the second out of the first inning.

“We had been struggling scoring lately,” Ardmore head coach Andrew Smith said. “We’ve had a lot of low-scoring games. It all came together at the right time that day. We hit everything hard and in the holes. It was one of those days where everything went right for us.”

The second game went the full seven innings, but Ardmore remained in control throughout. The Tigers took a two-run lead in the first inning and added a pair of runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to pull away from the visitors in a 9-1 victory.

Smith said he hopes the scoring offensive outburst will propel his team to make a run going forward into the playoffs.

“I think it will help,” Smith said. “Just having more confidence at the plate going forward. We’ve got some good hitters and they’re finally showing it.”

It was a team-effort from Ardmore Saturday. While Vanderbilt commitment Cody Reed was hot, as usual, the Tigers got production from the entire lineup. Thomas Davidson, hitting ninth for Ardmore, led the way in the second game.

Davidson had a team-high four RBIs in the second game to complete the sweep.