Tigers, Devall shutout Trinity to take 1-0 series lead

Southern Sports & Travel

Senior southpaw Hunter Devall pitched five scoreless innings giving up just two hits and recording eight strikeouts and fellow senior Cliff Hurst blasted a three run homerun as second ranked Centreville began their quest for back to back state championships with a 7-0 shutout over eighth ranked Trinity last night in Centreville.

(Above) Centreville players greet Cliff Hurst following a 3 run blast in the 1st inning

The much anticipated meeting between two of the top pitchers in the MAIS, Centreville’s Hunter Devall (LSU signee) and Trinity’s Jake Winston (Southern Miss signee), only lasted two innings as Winston was roughed up in Centreville’s half of the first inning.

Devall made quick work of Trinity in the first inning as the senior mowed down all three batters.

Winston didn’t have the same success thanks in part to his counterpart Devall who sent a 2-1 Winston pitch up the middle to centerfield for a single in the bottom of the first inning. A perfectly executed bunt down the third base line from junior Randy Bell advanced Devall to second base as Bell picked up a second consecutive base hit for the Tigers.

Winston struck out Hunter Travis to get a much needed out but made a fatal mistake in delivering a 1-0 pitch to senior Cliff Hurst who cracked a three run homer over the centerfield wall to give the Tigers an early 3-0 advantage.

That would be all the cushion Hunter Devall needed. After giving up an infield single to Sky Logan, Devall (Photo right) sat down three consecutive Trinity batters as the southpaw struck out six of the first seven batters he faced.

Centreville added a run in the bottom of the third inning when reliever Daniel Dunaway walked in Randy Bell with the bases loaded.
Devall was on fire from the mound as he faced only thirteen Trinity batters through four innings of play.

The defending state champions broke the game open in their half of the fourth inning.

Gage Chandler drew a lead-off walk and quickly advanced to second base on a passed ball. Hunter Devall’s ground out moved Chandler to third base and Randy Bell brought Chandler home with a single to centerfield to increase the margin to 5-0.

Bell stole second base and a Trinity infield error on a grounder by Hunter Travis gave the Tigers runners on third and first with one out.

Bell would score on a passed ball to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead and Cliff Hurst (Photo left) picked up his fourth RBI as the senior belted a double to score Hunter Travis and bump the lead to 7-0.

Devall yielded a lead off single to Quinton Logan in the top of the fifth inning but then recorded his eighth strikeout and forced two fly outs to finish his work on the night.

Randy Bell finished the final two innings on the mound to pick up the save.

“I liked our enthusiasm tonight,” said Centreville head coach Jason Horne.

“Our energy was good and it was a matchup of two great pitchers tonight and Hurst’s homerun helped set the tone for us.”

Centreville takes a 1-0 lead in the best of three series which will now shift to Trinity on Friday.

“We have one more to go,” said Horne.  “Hopefully we can go over there on Friday and take care of business.”