Andrews – Andrews and Hiwassee Dam baseball played their first Smoky Mountain Conference series of the season last week.
On March 19, Andrews hosted the first of the two-game series. Andrews took the lead early and maintained their 3-0 lead through the fifth inning.
In the top of the sixth, Hiwassee Dam rallied to score two runs to only trail by one heading into the final inning. Andrews’ defense was able to hold off the Eagles to get the 3-2 win.
Ethan Sutton pitched for most of the game, with Braxton Rickett coming in to close out the win for the Wildcats. For the Eagles, Clay Davis pitched 2.1 innings before injuring his ankle. Dawson Headley pitched the final 3.2 innings. Both Eagles pitchers gave up four hits. Davis threw five strikeouts and Headley had four.
Andrews got the win with three runs on eight hits and they had two errors. The Eagles scored two runs on five hits and had one error.
Wildcats head coach Brian Wilson said his team did well in certain situations, but did not make plays in others.
“I think we played real well in certain situations and then we had some mistakes there where we let a fly ball drop on the in field. Obviously, I credit that to probably experience,” Wilson said. “I don’t have that one person that’s going to take charge and run in there and call the ball and make that play, so therefore we had three guys around it, but everybody was afraid to make the call to make the play, so we have to get better in that area.
“Overall, it was a great game. Pitching was great today. Ethan Sutton gave was six and two-thirds great innings, so I can’t complain for that with a freshman.”
Wilson said, along with Ethan Sutton, Logan Shuler stood out to him.
“Today, Logan Shuler. He was one we talked about earlier in the preview. Logan Shuler is a sophomore for me, who I expect big things out of. He had two RBI and two base hits and came through clutch,” Wilson said.
To prepare for their matchup later in the week, Wilson said, “He gotta learn to hit the curveball, minimize the mistakes and try to duplicate the same pitching. That’s one of our keys is going to be our pitching.”
Eagles assistant coach Ronnie Davis said they started to get into the March 19 game late in the game.
“We were kind of walking dead for about four innings, then came to life a little there toward the end. It’s almost first-game jitters, we’ve only had one game and it was eight days ago, so still a lot of nerves, a lot of taking good pitches. Give them credit, their pitcher pounded the strike zone all day,” Davis said.
Davis added that Colton Berrong and the Eagles’ pitching stood out to him.
“Colton Berrong, he went 3-3 with two extra-base hits. Our pitching was great. Both pitchers did good,” Davis said.
On a rainy Friday afternoon, the Wildcats and Eagles played their second game of their series. This time, the Eagles got the win, 8-1.
Andrews got on the board in the first inning, but the Eagles tied the game at one in the second inning. It was two full scoreless frames before the Eagles scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to secure the win.
Kyle Taylor and Carson Taylor led the team in hits with two hits each. Dawson Headley led the team in RBI+ with two. Kyle Taylor also had three stolen bases.
Kyle Taylor helped the Eagles get the win on the mound. He pitched five innings with five strikeouts and no walks. He only allowed one hit and one run.
The game was called after five innings because of the rain and wet field conditions.
On Thursday, the Wildcats headed to Cooper Basin, Tenn., to take on the Cougars. The Wildcats lost 14-5, despite leading early.
Andrews got on the board early with three runs in the second innings. Then Copper Basin had a huge inning and jumped out to a big lead with 10 runs in the bottom of the third. Andrews scored two runs in the fourth inning in an attempt to close the gap, but Copper Basin scored two runs in both the fifth and sixth inning to secure the 14-5 win.
The Wildcats will host the Murphy Bulldogs for their next game this Thursday. First pitch is at 4:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the Eagles head to Hayesville for their next game Thursday. First pitch is also at 4:30 p.m.