Colbert erased an early deficit to surge past rival Calera, 9-3, in Bryan County baseball action last week.
The Leopards scored six unanswered runs and held the Bulldogs scoreless over the final six stanzas after spotting the hosts an 3-1 advantage in the opening frame.
Coach Zach Crabtree’s crew plated a run right out of the gates without the aid of a hit as Isaiah Lopez walked and advanced all the way around on a passed ball and consecutive groundouts.
Calera responded with a three-run uprising off a trio of singles by Matthew Sweeney, Demarcus Dunn and Harlem McBeth and back-to-back Leopard errors. That proved to be all that Colbert starting hurler Parker Ladd would yield as he blanked the Bulldogs on no hits and struck out five over the following four innings.
Colbert found its offensive rhythm in the third frame by making the most of one hit from Blake Wiginton along with two walks, a Calera error and a hit batter.
The Leopards continued to pull away, tacking on a pair of runs in the fourth fueled by a Eric Hokett two-run double to center, and adding three more for good measure in the sixth frame. Ian Jordan walked, Hokett singled and Kevin Davis was hit by a pitch to load the bases for a Hudson Sanchez single that plated two. Hudson Brigman also notched a sacrifice fly for an RBI and Colbert’s final tally.
Ladd earned the pitching win in his five innings of work with Dalton Cummins chipping in two scoreless frames of two-hit relief. He fanned two and walked one.
Calera used four pitchers in the game with Hoff Weil the most successful, allowing no runs on one hit while recording the final six outs.
Hokett managed two hits while Wiginton, Sanchez and Ladd added one apiece.
The Bulldogs also had five hits with singles from Sweeney, Weil, Dunn, McBeth and Ryder Smith.
