Apr. 2—MOULTON — One out, all tied up at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh, Lawrence County's Parker Frost stood on second with a big lead. The Russellville pitcher on the mound looked at him once but didn't take a second glance, so as soon as the pitcher started his windup, Frost jumped for third.
As the Golden Tiger catcher popped up with the ball in his hands, it looked like Frost might get caught stealing. But as he slid, the ball skidded far left of the third base line and missed the Russellville baseman. Frost got up as fast as he could and stole home on the error, walking off Class 5A's No. 5 Russellville 7-6 on Tuesday night.
" We've never beat them in a series, and it was fun to go out there and beat them," Frost said. "We've had that game circled on our schedule all year. This is what we've been working our tails off for."
The Area 15 win is the latest in a line of positive performances. The Red Devils are off to their best record (19-6) since head coach Carson Jones was hired in 2022. After being ranked No. 10 in Class 5A last week, this victory extends their win streak to six, including two wins over ranked opponents (Deshler, Russellville).
"It's been a good season all year so far. All our losses this season have come because we haven't defended it well," Jones said. "Tonight, we played a pretty clean ball game. During spring break, we played clean ball games and the results speak for themselves."
Despite the close contest, Lawrence County was well ahead for most of the game thanks to Frost. The senior opened up the game with a double that scored two runs in the bottom of the first to give them the 2-0 lead. He then took over on the mound in the fourth inning, inheriting one out and bases loaded. The senior pitcher struck out the next batter and coaxed the final into a pop-up, limiting the damage to just one Russellville run in the fourth.
After the Red Devils scored two in the bottom of the fourth, Frost didn't allow a single Russellville hit in the next two innings before being relieved in the top of the seventh. The Golden Tigers then scored five and took the lead 6-6 to force an extra half-inning. Still tied at the start of the seventh, he led off and drew a walk before stealing home and winning the game.
" That was a big win," Frost said. "I'm not going to say it takes a lot of pressure off of us, but it definitely gives us more confidence going into that series and gets us ready for the rest of the season."
With the first game in hand, Lawrence County will go to Russellville on Thursday for a double header with playoff implications. A series win over the Golden Tigers would mean the top seed in Class 5A, Area 15 going into the playoffs. A series loss to Russellville would plant Lawrence County in second for area play and the area series versus Priceville later in the month would be must-win.
" We got away with a lot of pitches, we didn't hit a lot of our spots, but we still competed," Jones said. "Honestly sometimes it's a matter of who wants to win the most, and I think our guys wanted to win tonight."
Frost led Lawrence County with a pair of RBIs on a double. Lawrence County's Tripp Engle went 2-for-4. Lawrence County's Caden Norwood had an RBI on a base hit. Wyatt Knight hit 2-for-3 for the Red Devils. Lawrence County's Elijah Tuckier was the winning pitcher, going three innings and allowing one run and striking out three.
