By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

The Chilton County Tigers coaching staff would have a hard time finding anything to complain about after the team’s performance in the Chilton County Baseball Tournament last week.

Pitching, fielding and batting were solid for the Tigers all week long as they went 4-0 in tournament play, the only participating team not to suffer a loss.

On Friday, the final day of the tournament, the Tigers played the Thorsby Rebels and the Jemison Panthers. The Tigers proved tough to beat on their home turf, winning against the Rebels 5-0 and against the Panthers 16-0 at Jack Hayes Field in Clanton.

After the Tiger defense sat the Rebels down in the top of the first inning, CCHS started its half of the first inning with a bang. On just the third offering from Rebel pitcher Bo Hoffman, Cameron Cummings sent a shot to right field and over the 325-foot sign for a home run and an early 1-0 lead.

The Tigers were far from done, though, as a single by Craig Headley and a double by Trenton Bishop set up two more runs in the inning.

Meanwhile, pitcher Blake Teel and the Tiger defense continued to be a thorn in the side of the Rebels, retiring the Rebels in order in the top of the second inning.

Singles by Garren Minor and Joe Mosley set up a single by Cummings, scoring both men and making the Tigers’ edge five runs in the bottom of the second.

Both teams’ pitching and defense stepped up, and the Tigers closed out a 5-0 victory.

Teel pitched seven innings for the Tigers with two strikeouts, four hits and two walks.

Cummings was 3-for-3 at the plate with a single, double, home run, and three runs batted in.

Hoffman pitched six innings for the Rebels with six strikeouts, eight hits, four walks and four earned runs.

With the Panthers next up, the Tigers were far from done for the evening.

J.P. Ratliff and the Chilton defense closed out the top of the Panthers’ order to start the game, and the Tiger bats once again showed that they can be very dangerous. Five of the Tigers’ first six batters reached base safely, and with one out and two on, Gabe Hayes sent a shot deeper than 350 feet over the left center field wall, giving the Tigers a 6-0 lead.

With two on and two out, a routine infield grounder by Bishop turned into anything but routine as an errant throw to first base wound up in deep right field, scoring two Tigers.

The Panthers would finally retire the Tigers’ side in the first inning on an infield ground ball, but not after CCHS had put Jemison in a 10-run hole to start the game.

A single by Hayes to start the bottom half of the second inning would set up a run-scoring single by Mosley, who would later score on a Tyler Crowson single, making the Tigers’ lead 12-0 after just two innings.

The Tigers added four more in the bottom of the fourth inning, including two runs on a Crowson triple to right center field, scoring Beau Waid and Cummings.

Chilton County could do little wrong, making Sportscenter-like catches on defense and with their bats smoking hot, notched the shutout against the Panthers, 16-0.

Ratliff pitched five innings for the Tigers with four strikeouts, three hits and one walk.

Crowson was 3-for-4 with a single, double, triple and three RBI.