By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

The Clanton Middle School Tigers picked up a 12-1 win over the visiting Jemison Middle School Panthers on Feb. 19, as the Tigers played almost flawlessly in the field as well as at the plate.

After reaching on a leadoff error, Daniel Martin put the Panthers on the board in the top of the first inning to give Jemison an early 1-0 lead.

Lawson Patterson answered with a leadoff single for the Tigers in the bottom half of the inning and later scored on a Deuntae Childers infield ground ball.

Childers came in to score on a Panthers’ error to give Clanton a 2-0 lead after one inning.

With the Panthers going in order in the top half of the second inning, the Tigers tacked on eight runs in the bottom half.

Singles by Tucker Price and Preston Smith started the inning and were followed by walks to Pico Kohn and Alijah Franklin.

The nightmare inning continued for Jemison with another walk to Patterson and back-to-back singles by Dalton Patterson and Childers.

Rylee Thornton followed it up with a successful sacrifice fly, while Preston Smith capped it off with a two-run double to give Clanton a 10-1 lead after two.

The Panthers went down in order again in the top half of the third inning, while the Tigers tacked on two more in the bottom half of the third.

Lawson and Dalton Patterson started the inning for the Tigers by reaching on a hit-by-pitch and walk. They both scored on a two-run single by Cameron Baker.

The teams played quietly through the fourth inning, as the Tiger defense and pitching of Thornton retired the Panthers in order once more to secure a 12-1 win in Game 1 of the double-header.

Thornton threw five innings with six strikeouts and two hits, while Smith led the Tigers at the plate going 3-for-3 with two singles and a double.

Nathan Jones pitched three innings for the Panthers while giving up five hits, one walk and five earned runs.

Josh Breckenridge and Dylan Benton both picked up singles for the Panthers.