Tide Baseball Team Wraps Up Fan Day
2/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? The University of Alabama baseball team held its annual fan day Saturday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium with nearly 1,000 fans taking part in the day’s festivities.
The inaugural kid’s clinic attracted more than 200 youth baseball players participated in a 90-minute session that focused on hitting, fielding, base running and defense. Following the clinic, the Alabama Grand Slammers held their 25th annual preseason barbecue at Coleman Coliseum. The fans mingled with Crimson Tide players, who signed autographs and Head Coach Jim Wells gave the crowd a scouting report on the upcoming season.
The day was capped by the final intrasquad game of the preseason, with the Crimson team beating the White team, 8-6.
“Overall, it was a very good day,” Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. “We had a great turnout at the clinic and I think everyone had a good time. I know the players really enjoyed spending time with the kids. The Grand Slammers barbecue is the highlight of the preseason and our players are getting ready for what we think will be a good year on the field.”
Sophomore Del Howell was the pitching and hitting star for the Crimson team as he went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and four RBI. He also threw five scoreless innings on the mound with four strikeouts.
The Crimson team scored three runs in the fourth and seventh innings and added two more runs in the eighth to build an eight-run lead before holding off the White squad, who left the tying runs on base in the 14th inning.
Sophomore third baseman Jake Smith’s sacrifice fly plated the first run of the game and Howell followed with a two-run double to right-center field. The lead was doubled with three more runs in the seventh inning, when Howell stroked a two-run home run and junior centerfielder Alex Kubal added an RBI triple. Freshman Ross Wilson laced an RBI double to left field in the eighth inning and scored on junior right fielder Tyler Odle’s ground out to make it 8-0.
Despite falling behind by eight runs, the White team scored the game’s final six runs and brought the winning run to the plate in the 14th inning.
The White team got on the board with a run in the 10th inning when junior right fielder Tyler Odle reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and third base and scored on junior catcher Alex Avila’s sacrifice fly to center. They added two more runs in the 11th inning when senior first baseman Matt Bentley walked and scored on a wild pitch and junior outfielder Ryan Rhoden singled and scored on junior Brian Clark’s double.
The White team capped the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the 13th inning when junior center fielder Kent Matthes stroked a one-out double to center and scored on Bentley’s RBI triple to center. Bentley scored on Rhoden’s ground out to make the final 8-5.
In the 14th, the White team closed the gap to 8-6 when junior Vin DiFazio walked, moved to third on Clark’s double and scored on junior Jeff Texada’s sacrifice fly. After Odle singled to put runners on the corners with two outs, sophomore right hander Jarrod Hewes struck out Avila to end the game.
Alabama will open the 2008 season on Friday, February 22, at 6:30 p.m. when the Tide hosts Cal Poly in the first-game of a three series. The teams will conclude the series with a double header on Saturday, February 23, at 2 p.m.
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