Published: May 10, 2008 11:41 pm            

Lions open tournament with win over LBW

HANCEVILLE — Randy Putman had a hunch, even if it didn’t seem to make too much sense.

Hoping to save number one starter Craig Kimbrel for a potential winners bracket game Monday, Putman decided to start the struggling Will Rankin Saturday against Lurleen B. Wallace in the first round of the ACCC Tournament.

Rankin responded, tossing 7-2/3 innings of two-run ball as Wallace routed the Saints 9-2, setting up a second-round matchup against Alabama Southern or Shelton State Monday at 7 p.m.

“I just had a gut feeling he was the guy to go with even though he hasn’t started that much for us,” Putman said after the Lions beat the team that knocked them out of the state tournament last season.

Rankin allowed 10 hits, but benefitted from three double plays turned by the Wallace defense. He struck out four and walked none.

“Basically (Putman said) that he had confidence in me,” Rankin said. “I was just trying to keep us in the game and do my job. I knew (the defense) would come through for me.”

Trailing1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Wallace exploded for five runs, all with two outs. Sean Finucane hit an RBI double, Dustin Lawley followed with a run-scoring single and Zac Tyler doubled to deep center, driving in Wallace’s third run and chasing starter Derek Scully.

Tyler Hannah then greeted Saints reliever Matt Ford with a two-run homer to left.

“We weren’t playing for the big inning,” said Putman. “It just happened. Once we got it going, we felt like we could score some runs, and we did.”

Wallace added four more in the seventh. Lawley drove in his second run with another single before Hannah’s RBI groundout. Rich Porohnavi then capped the inning with a long two-run homer to center.

Rankin got into trouble in the eighth, allowing a run on three hits, but reliever Austin Lucas struck out Travis Williamson to end the threat.

Lucas finished up with a perfect ninth, saving Wallace’s bullpen for Monday — for which Putman gave most of the credit to Rankin.

“Will Rankin dictated the outcome of the game with his pitching,” he said.

Lawley finished with three hits, two runs and two RBIs to lead the Lions offense, while Zac Taylor, Ryan Davis and Hannah added two hits apiece.

Sam Houston and Jacob Dixon had two hits each to lead the Saints, who face Chattahoochee Valley today at 9 a.m.

        

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