By Daniel Evans
The Selma Times-Journal

West Alabama defeated Greg Tillman State Farm 5-4 in a Dixie Majors game Friday.

State Farm nearly completed a rally in the seventh inning, after Alex Inge’s single scored Ricky Austin to make the score 5-4. Instead, West Alabama pitcher Kyle Friday ended the threat quickly, striking out Davian Brantley and forcing Aaron Drake to popup to end the game.

“We made some errors behind the plate, a couple of passed balls. I think that is where they got their runs at, “ Greg Tillman State Farm Raymond Brown said. “We had opportunities. We just left too many men on the basepath.”

Early on, it was all West Alabama.

Friday helped his cause on the mound by singling in the second inning to drive in a run and make the score 3-1. In the fifth inning, West Alabama struck again when State Farm catcher Drake was unable to field a pitch by Keyshawn Ford, resulting in a passed ball that scored Hayden Huckabee.

State Farm made things interesting down the stretch, with throwing errors by West Alabama scoring Brantley and Ricky Gordon to make the score 4-3 in the sixth.

In the bottom of the inning, West Alabama padded their cushion again. Michael Brooker was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which brought in the game-deciding run for West Alabama.

“I think the base on ball, when he hit the kid, got them up by one and it kind of turned it around,” Brown said. “We got another run, but we were too far [down] to get back. We had our chances. We just didn’t come through in the end. “