Andrews – After scoring just two runs in games the previous two days in a 2-1 win over Andrews and then a 9-0 loss to Towns County, Ga., Hiwassee Dam’s baseball flipped the script in their second game of the week against the Wildcats.
The Eagles did damage at the plate, pounding Andrews in a 17-7, six-inning, mercy-rule win.
“I didn’t know if we were going to be flat because three games in three days is a lot,” head coach Tommy Strickland said. “But they came out and put (six) up in the (second) inning, and that made a huge difference.”
The previous day against the Indians (8-9 overall), Strickland said his team was making good contact but hitting it right at fielders.
The next day, Hiwassee Dam (4-4 overall, 3-1 Smoky Mountain Conference) continued to make good contact, but found a few more gaps and took advantage when the Wildcats couldn’t make the plays they needed to.
An RBI single by Clay Davis scored Evan Hedrick to start the game in the top of the first, then Davis would later come around to score on an error. After Andrews (1-7, 1-5) scored in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 2-1, the Eagles answered with six runs in the top of the second. They sent 10 to the plate in the inning, with Luke Harbin starting off the inning by reaching on a bunt that trickled down the third base line.
The next batter, Kyle Taylor singled to left and Harbin raced home after the ball was misplayed. A two-run single by Trenten Beavers extended the lead to 5-1, then Davis added another run when he scored on a wild pitch.
Dawson Headley’s two run-single pushed the lead to 8-1. After just two innings, Hiwassee Dam had scored as many runs as it had in its previous three games combined.
“Once they saw that they could score six at one time it gave them a better feeling,” Strickland said. “Because that’s happened to us several times this year. Once they knew they could, they wanted more of it.”
Andrews scored four in the bottom of the third, getting one on an Isaac Weaver double to the left-field fence, two more on groundouts by Logan Shuler and Braxton Rickett and then another on an Eagles error. Tanner Taylor answered back with a two-run single of his own in the top of the fourth to extend the Hiwassee Dam lead to 10-5.
The Eagles put three more runs on the board on the top of the fifth, getting an RBI single from Beavers, a sacrifice fly from Davis and an RBI infield single from Taylor. An RBI single by Ethan Barton and then a bases-loaded walk by Eli Aguilar trimmed the Hiwassee Dam lead to 13-7, but the Eagles once again had an answer.
In the sixth, Hedrick hit an RBI double to right-center, then came around to score on an error. With Hiwassee Dam up 15-7, Davis ripped a double to left and scored on the same play after the Wildcats’ third error of the inning.
The Eagles took a big step up in competition late Tuesday against one of the conference favorites in Hayesville, then host the Yellow Jackets on Thursday in their final game before spring break. Strickland said his team has been settling in since opening the season four weeks ago, with players more comfortable with the batting lineup and variety of positions to play in the field.
He also used the non-conference games to test out several pitchers, seeing who he’s comfortable with when the games start to mean more down the stretch. Now it’s about continuing to get better and have confidence that what they do against certain opponents, they can do to others in the future.
“We need to build off of this,” Strickland said. “And the knowledge that we can do it should go a long way with everybody else.”