Addison Swink may not strike fear into opposing pitchers and coaches as often as teammate Tyler McMullen — the Ole Miss signee.

But Saturday night at Clarkdale, it was Swink that carried the bulk of the load for Southeast Lauderdale.

Swink, a sophomore who bats in the 9-hole, was 3-for-3 with five RBIs to spark an uprising from the bottom of the lineup — and the Tigers knocked off Clarkdale 9-3 in a battle of Lauderdale County rivals.

“He’s been struggling a little, but he got it done tonight,” Southeast coach Shay Cooper said of Swink, whose bases-clearing double in the top of the seventh blew the game open. “We haven’t been swinging the bats real well at all … but the bottom of the order kinda carried us tonight, so maybe tonight will be a turning point for us.”

The win improved Southeast to 4-2 and avenged an earlier loss to the Bulldogs. It was also the second defeat of the day for Clarkdale, which dropped a 7-5 decision to Philadelphia Saturday afternoon.

In the nightcap, Southeast’s McMullen (2-0) got the win with a complete-game, 12-strikeout performance. He walked four and gave up four hits, with three of those coming in the fifth when he lost a no-hit bid.

“We’ve been trying to work a lot of guys on the mound, so he probably hasn’t gotten as many innings as he should have,” Cooper said. “But I thought he was pretty sharp for the most part, and he had pretty good command of four pitches.”

The contest was scoreless until the top of the third. After Southeast lost a baserunner at the plate on a 9-3-2 relay, Demetric Young grounded the first pitch he saw back through the middle to plate a pair of runs.

It was 3-0 in the top of the fifth, when Southeast got a rally going with no one on and two out. Swink had the big blow, delivering a two-out, bases-loaded, single on a 3-2 pitch to make it a 5-0 game.

Clarkdale finally got to McMullen in the home half of the fifth, when Kyle Chancellor’s grounder through the right side broke up the no-hit bid. That single was sandwiched in between an error and a walk that loaded the bases, and Brent Mabry put the Bulldogs’ first run on the board with an RBI single to left.

Kevin McKissack followed with a two-run single up the middle to pull the Dogs within 5-3, but Clarkdale had just one hit afterward and didn’t score again.

McMullen got one of those runs back in the top of the sixth, when he drove an inside fastball over the left-center field wall for a homer that made it 6-3.

Southeast finally chased Clarkdale starter Kyle Townsend in the seventh, and Swink’s bases-loaded double to right-center field cracked the game open.

In addition to Swink’s 3-for-3, five-RBI night, Southeast got a single, double and a run out of eighth-place hitter Trey Tanner. McMullen was also 2-for-3 with a pair of runs.

Chancellor had two hits to lead Clarkdale, which returns to action Tuesday at Newton. Southeast is back at it Monday with a makeup game at West Lauderdale, then the Tigers have a trio of Division 5-3A contests next week.



Philadelphia 7

Clarkdale 5

Earlier Saturday, Philly jumped to a 5-1 lead and held off the Bulldogs.

Jason Reed started and got the win for the Tornadoes, while Mabry (1-1) took the loss for the Dogs.

Clarkdale closed within 5-4 with a three-run rally in the fifth, but Philly got two of those runs back in the sixth.

Tevin Houston hit a two-run homer for Philly, while Tuntdrick Burnside reached and scored three times and also had three stolen bases.