Rebels swept by Huntsville in playoffs

It wasn’t a pleasant trip to north Alabama for the Vestavia Hills High School baseball team on Friday night. The Rebels dropped a pair of games to red-hot Huntsville High and were bounced from the Class 7A playoffs in the first round. The Panthers advanced with 7-3 and 4-0 victories over the Rebels.

Game 1: Huntsville 7, Vestavia Hills 3

The Rebels swung the bat well – collecting seven hits – but couldn’t match the Panthers four-run fifth inning. To that point, it was a close game, with Huntsville carrying a 3-2 lead into the fifth. Vestavia Hills scored its first two runs on an RBI single by Luke Whitaker in the first inning and an RBI double by Whitaker in the third inning.

Huntsville, which carried a 12-game winning streak into the series, took control in the fifth inning by using four singles and a double to score four runs.

Whitaker and Ben Saway each had two hits for the Rebels.

Game 2: Huntsville 4, Vestavia Hills 0

The series-clinching win was dominated by Huntsville lefty Christian MacLeod, who teamed with Javier Vaz to throw a no-hitter. The Mississippi State signee, who threw 124 pitches in 6 2/3 innings, struck out 15 batters while walking six and hitting two more.

Colton Lewis and Bo Minor combined to throw a solid game for the Rebels. Lewis allowed three hits and two earned runs in six innings but also walked eight batters. Minor threw one inning of hitless relief.

Vestavia Hills, which had nine runners left on base, stranded at least one baserunner in all but the sixth inning.