By Michael Butler

Tallassee clinched its third straight post-season berth with a sweep of Class 4A/Area 5 opponent LAMP last week. The Tigers won 16-2 on Thursday in Montgomery and 7-1 and 10-0 on Friday in Tallassee.

Pitching ruled both days. On Thursday, Jack Butler threw 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball in relief to get the win. The junior recorded eight strikeouts and no walks in the five-inning affair. Brue Milner went 4-for-5 at the plate and hit his fifth homerun of the season.

On Friday, Thomas Lemmond and Abram Whittington teamed up in solid performances on the hill. Lemmond went the distance in the opening game of the twin bill. The senior struck out five with no bases on balls.

Whittington hurled a no-hitter in the five-inning run-rule nightcap. He was a hit batter away from a perfect game. The sophomore struck out four. Also, Cash Gough picked up his first homer of the season on the day.

“It sort of scared me against LAMP over there,” said THS head coach John Goodman. “(Chase) Chumley’s first six pitches he threw were by him almost like he got whiplash. We knew that Jack’s ball moves so much that we could bring him in and get us through that. He dominated. It just rolled from there.

“Thomas pitched an excellent ball game. Abram finished it off. He grew up the last time we threw him against Catholic. After the first inning, he settled in and threw a good ball game. Same way this time.”

This week will be a battle for first and home field in the first round against Trinity, which also punched its post-season ticket last week. The Wildcats (15-7), like the Tigers, have an unbeaten mark in area play.

After an 0-5 start to the season, Tallassee is now 15-8 and winners of nine straight. The streak heading into Tuesday’s scheduled Senior Day game (April 8) against Percy Julian, is the longest in eight years when the 2017 Tigers won ten in a row.

“We bumped the schedule up,” Goodman noted. “We saw everybody’s number one. Now we’ve seen those arms. This is where that schedule pays off at the beginning of the year. It benefits us. You’ve got to go through the tough times to get to the good times.”

The program record for the longest in-season win streak was 27 games in 1990. That team won the state title and reached 40 straight wins during the 1991 season.

“Our pitching has gotten better, but it wasn’t bad at the first of the season,” said Goodman. “I’ve never had so many injuries. We’re just now getting our best defense out there, the ones that have been there for several years. We’re getting healthy. This is the team that we thought we’d have.”

Game one against Trinity will be on Thursday, April 10 at 5:30 at Southside Field. WTLS – Score 94.7/ Hit 106.9 will broadcast live with an airtime of 5:00. Video will be available on Facebook Live.

The series concludes on Friday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. at Trinity in Montgomery.

“This is a three-game series. We’ve got to get two,” Goodman added. “We’ve got Tallassee baseball back to where it’s a prominent name again. We’re starting to get respect back.”