OHS crushes McGill-Toolen, advances to semifinals

By Tom Peavy

Published: May 4, 2008

Opelika head coach Barry Hightower said his team wanted to make a statement.

And that statement came through loud and clear.

Senior Brandon Rogers was stellar on the mound and the Bulldogs’ offense got red hot. The result was one of No. 1 Opelika’s best performances of the year, an 18-0, five-inning, mercy-rule win over McGill-Toolen in Game 3 of the Class 6A quarterfinals.

“The kids were real focused when they came out today,” Hightower said. “Brandon Rogers set a great pace for us and once he got us going, everything clicked and the kids started swinging the bat.

“Little by little we pieced it together and then we just started hitting everything.”

Opelika (39-2) advances to play Prattville, on the road, next Friday in the state semifinals.

“We’ll enjoy this tonight and (Sunday) and come back to work Monday,” Hightower said. “It’s a team we’ve played a couple of times before, but they know and I know it’s not the same team we played earlier this year.”

McGill (17-16) seemed shellshocked early by the way things unfolded.

With Rogers shutting down the Yellow Jackets’ bats, Opelika put a run on the board in the first, got three in the third and blew things open with six in the fourth.

“We made a few mistakes early against a good team, and Opelika is definitely a good team,” McGill coach David Weems said. “They deserve it. Anytime you beat someone the way they beat us, they deserve it.”

Mike Love was the big bat of the night for Opelika. The senior went 4-for-4 and collected seven RBI. Two of the runs came on a two-run bomb in the third, and he added a bases-loaded, three-run double in the fourth.

“I wanted (a home run) because I was close to two (Friday),” Love said. “He gave me a fastball up and away and that’s a pitch I’ve been hitting well, and I finally made good contact on one.”

Rogers, who hadn’t pitched in two weeks, set the tone for himself early — striking out the first three batters he faced. He finished with the five-inning shutout, allowed just four hits and struck out seven. He finished his night by catching Pat Shreve looking to set off a wild on-field celebration.

“I had great defense all night and we were swinging the bats great all night,” Rogers said. “It felt good to go out with a backwards K to end the game.

“Striking out the first three was great for me to set the momentum of the game.”

Opelika led, 1-0, heading to the third. Zach Blatt got a two-out single and Jonathon Campbell drove him in with a hit.

Love then came up and took a 1-1 pitch from Jonathan Jones and hammered it over the right-field fence.

The Bulldogs then brought nine to the plate in the fourth. This time Love had a bases-loaded double, chasing Jones, and making the score, 8-0.

Murphy Buggs didn’t fair much better on the mound in relief of Jones. The first batter he faced, Drake Sasser, hit a homer to left that landed on top of the grassy hill behind the fence.

The hits kept coming in the fifth as the Bulldogs brought 13 to the plate.

In that inning, Chance Lawrence had the Bulldogs’ third homer of the game, a three-run bomb to center.

Opelika finished with 15 hits for the game and outscored the Yellow Jackets, 29-3, over the final two games of the series after falling in Game 1.

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