BISCUITS OPENER: Etzel leads Montgomery to win over Clingstones
Biscuits starting pitcher Brody Hopkins walks off the mound with catcher Tatem Levins in the season opener at Riverwalk Stadium on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Matthew Etzel set the tone on the first pitch and the Montgomery Biscuits won their home opener for the third consecutive year, defeating the Columbus Clingstones (Braves), 5-3, in front of 5,083 fans at Riverwalk Stadium on Friday night.
The Clingstones, formerly the Mississippi Braves, made their debut on Friday at Riverwalk and leadoff batter Carlos Rodriguez drove the first pitch from Biscuits starter Brody Hopkins down the left field line but a hustling Etzel made a diving face-first catch of the opposite field line drive to rob Rodriguez of a double.
The next batter, shortstop Cal Conley, followed with a shot to the left field wall, but Etzel made a running grab at the warning track to rob another hit.
At the plate, the outfielder doubled and scored in the second inning, bunted for a base hit in the third and walked and later scored an important insurance run in the eighth as the Biscuits held off their Southern League rival’s late comeback.
The 2025 version of the Biscuits included five players making their Double-A debut in the starting lineup, along with two players acquired in trades that were making their Southern League debut.
Hopkins, the highest rated minor league pitching prospect in the Tampa Bay system, struggled at times with control, walking five, and was hit hard at times but a solid defensive effort allowed him to leave after 4.1 innings with a lead.
The Biscuits grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Brayden Taylor drew a walk, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Will Simpson. They added to the lead in the second inning when Columbus left fielder Geraldo Quintero lost a towering fly ball by Tatem Levins in the lights.
The ball fell two feet into fair territory, scoring Etzel and Ricardo Genoves, who was hit by a pitch, and Levins slid into third with a triple, scoring on Hunter Stovall’s single for a 4-0 lead.
That was all the Biscuits would need, despite the fact that Montgomery managed just two hits over the remaining seven innings, going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.
With little offensive support, the Biscuits’ relievers pitched the final 4.2 innings and allowed just three hits, with one runner caught stealing and another erased on a double play.
In the third, David McCabe homered off of reliever Trevor Martin to cut the Biscuits’ lead to 4-3 in the sixth.
Martin, who pitched 1.2 innings, and Cole Wilcox, who pitched the seventh and eighth innings, were two Montgomery starters last season who were converted to relievers this season. The pair combined to allow one run on three hits while striking out two and walking none.
J.J. Goss, making his Double-A debut, closed out the ninth, striking out two batters, walking two and outrunning Cal Conley to first base on a grounder back to the mound for the final out.
Montgomery manager Kevin Boles took the field for introductions, then left for the clubhouse as the game started. He was serving a one-game suspension from a divisional series playoff game last season. He will make his season debut on Saturday.
The Biscuits lost their season opener at Biloxi last year but have won the home opener in each of the last three years, defeating Tennessee in 2023, Pensacola in 2024 and Columbus on Friday.
The two teams resume the three-game series on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. as another new Biscuit, Jackson Baumeister, takes the mound.