Volunteer baseball advances to Region 1-3A Tourney

“These kids have been through the ringer the past few years,” Volunteer head coach Josh Peterson said. “They’ve worked their hind ends off. As a coaching staff, I couldn’t be more proud of the guys I’ve got. We continue to push our guys and they continue to respond.”

The Falcons took the lead in the top of the eighth with a couple of big hits from the middle of its order. With a runner at second and one out, Connor Haynes doubled to right field and then scored on a single from Austin Williams.

Pitching reigned supreme in the elimination contest, as Haynes and Cherokee’s Gavin Housewright traded zeros most of the game.

Having a sense of the style of the showdown early, the Falcons utilized small ball to score the game’s first run in the second. Austin Williams hit a leadoff single, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Anthony Blasini. He was then able to score on a single from Gavin Hickernell.

“Every game we have played them has been low-scoring, for the most part, at least,” Peterson said. “So I knew any chance we got, we’d have to play a little small ball.

“I trust my guys. We live on small ball, we’ve always lived on small ball.”

The Chiefs had an opportunity to at least tie the game in their half of the second. A hit-by-pitch and back-to-back singles loaded the bases with two outs. However, Haynes induced an infield popup to escape the jam.

The southpaw King-signee worked masterfully throughout for Volunteer, as he scattered five hits in eight innings. Even with six strikeouts, Haynes filled up the zone, not allowing a walk until the fifth.

“Starting off, he commanded the zone very well,” Peterson said. “He kept guys off-balance. Finally in the last two-to-three innings, he was able to get his fastball running a little bit.”

Housewright was just as effective for the Chiefs, even with the early run allowed. The right-hander settled into a groove quickly, retiring six out of seven batters faced in the third and fourth frames.

The victory for the Falcons propelled them into their first Region 1 appearance since reclassification.

Greeneville 10, Volunteer 0

The Greene Devils finished off their perfect District 2-3A Tournament run on Friday night.

“It’s good to get the one seed (in region),” Greeneville head coach Andy Collins said. “It’s good to host, I think we are excited about that. And hopefully this carries on.”

Collins’ squad struggled to capitalize on opportunities in the early going, as Greeneville left the bases loaded in both the first and second innings.

Most notably, Volunteer’s Austin Williams turned a magnificent unassisted double play at third to end the second. He snared a low line drive down the third base line before beating the runner back to third.

“I think we had a little bad luck in the beginning there,” Collins said. “But I thought that our approach was good. We sat back a little bit and let the ball come to us a little bit more than what we normally do.”

However, the tide began to turn for the Greene Devils in the third, plating a run on a Will Harmon single. It would be his first of three RBIs in the contest.

Finally, the floodgates opened for the Greeneville bats in the fourth, sending 10 batters to the plate in a six-run frame.

Despite the lack of extra-base hits, the Devils did see three-hole hitter Colton Richards have a massive day with the bat. The second baseman went 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored.

Starting pitcher Carson Norris worked efficiently as well, tossing all five innings in 63 pitches. Collins said that he was pleased with his right-handed hurler.

“That was like his second district start,” Collins said. “I think that (what he did) was huge for us, and it’s huge for him to gain confidence. Hopefully that will lead down the road a little bit, too.”