Davis hits walkoff homer, Eagles win
Hiwassee Dam – With a young team, Hiwassee Dam head coach Jerry Kilpatrick wants to make sure his team gets one message this year.
“It’s not over until the last out’s made,” Kilpatrick said. “And when you put the bat on the ball, you never know what’s going to happen. When you don’t do that, when you just lay down, there’s not much good that can come out of that.”
The Eagles lived up to that phrase, fighting after being down 7-3 in the fourth inning to take an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the sixth, then watched as Robbinsville scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning. In the bottom of the inning, Hiwassee Dam rallied one more time, as senior Connor Davis smashed a pitch over the centerfield fence for a 10-9 opening-day victory on April 27.
It was Davis’ first high school home run and walkoff blast of his career.
“I just knew we were down one,” he said. “I was just trying to hit the ball, really.”
The win capped an emotional day at the Hiwassee Dam School. Before the game, the team honored brothers Avery and Austin Hawkins, two local students who were killed in an automobile accident in June. The brothers would have been juniors this year, and Avery was a member of the team.
The family was presented with Avery’s framed No. 5 jersey, which was retired by the program. The team also unveiled a No. 5 cutout in left field underneath the scoreboard.
“He was the life of the party,” Kilpatrick said of Avery Hawkins. “He always had something going in a good way. He made the plays, he worked, he didn’t try anything to make it happen. He just put out a good effort.”
Robbinsville got on the board in the top of the first with an RBI single by Ty Smith, but the Eagles responded with three in the bottom of the inning despite getting only one hit. Black Knights head coach Brent Icenhower was ejected in the inning after the home plate umpire missed a force-out call in the plate.
Robbinsville didn’t
seem phased without their head coach, scoring four runs in the third inning and two more in the fourth to take a 7-3 lead. The Black Knights took advantage of Hiwassee Dam’s inconsistency on the mound, as
the Eagles walked 13 batters and hit one. Of those batters, seven came around to score.
Robbinsville starter Jud Shuler had to leave in first inning, as he struggled to throw strikes after being hit in the hand to lead off the game. Ethan Orr replaced him and was solid in relief until the fifth inning.
Orr struck out 11 batters, but Hiwassee Dam scored three in the bottom of the fifth to cut Robbinsville’s lead to 7-6. Then in the sixth, back-to-back RBI singles by Michael Simms and Clay Davis gave the Eagles an 8-7 lead.
The Black Knights were able to answer back in the top of the seventh with two runs of their own without getting any hits. Hiwassee Dam walked five in the inning, while Robbinsville scored runs on a fielder’s choice and throwing error to take the lead.
A one-out single from Evan Hedrick brought Davis to the plate, allowing him to put an exclamation point on a big day for the program.
“It’s good to start a season with a win after losing a lot the last couple of seasons,” Davis said.