By Brian Millican | Special to the Advertiser

Area play kicked off with a win for Chilton County High School, as the varsity baseball team went on the road and defeated Selma 12-0 on Tuesday.

Selma had posed little challenge for Chilton County in the past, and this game was not any different.

The game remained close through the first four innings, but the Tigers opened it up in the fifth when they plated five runs and took a 7-0 lead. Five more runs crossed the plate for Chilton County in the seventh.

Tolliver Gilliand was almost perfect on the mound for the Tigers. He faced 22 batters, just one more than the minimum.

He finished the game having surrendered only one hit, as he went the distance for the complete-game shutout.

Leading 2-0 in the fifth, the Tigers extended the lead by adding five runs.

Dustin Cleckler helped the cause with a two-run double, and the other three runs were results of Selma errors.

In the seventh, three more runs came in to score via errors. Giquon Lane and Corbin Bice each drove in a run as well.

Cleckler carried much of the load for the Tigers’ offense, going 2-for-4 with a single, double and three RBIs.

Lane collected three hits and drove in two runs, while Keaton Sullivan and Bice combined to drive home three more.

During area play, teams schedule a total of three games against each other. Single games are played on Tuesday and doubleheaders are normally played on Thursdays. To stay in the hunt for an area championship, a team needs to win two of the three games against each area opponent.

Chilton County and Selma were scheduled to face each other again at Jack Hayes Field on Wednesday.