Baseball
Saturday, May 26, 2001
La Vergne’s historic season ends:
Source: The Daily News Journal- Murfreesboro
CHATTANOOGA — The best baseball season in La Vergne school history ended Friday.
The Wolverines (26-15), who set school records in victories, won first-ever titles in the district, region and sectional tournaments lost to Knoxville Farragut (36-8), 7-0 at historic Engel Stadium.
“We were third out of 110 (teams in the state). We’ll look back on that when we’re old and remember,” said La Vergne senior Joey Davidson, one of six seniors who received diplomas following the game.
Due to the state tournament, the Wolverines missed Thursday’s graduation at MTSU.
“I’d rather be on the baseball field than (inside) at MTSU,” said another senior, Draper Oakley.
The Wolverines eliminated Riverdale on Thursday, and would have reached the state championship game today with a win over Farragut.
“The state tournament is not a good time to leave your bats at home,” said La Vergne coach Craig Reavis, referring to his team’s struggles at the plate throughout the tourney. La Vergne was shut out earlier in the tourney by Germantown, and won 1-0 over the Warriors.
Farragut’s Davis Burklin hit a two-out solo home run in the first inning. The Admirals added three more runs in the second to jump out to an early lead.
Clint Lensgraf hit a two-run single, scoring both Jay Sadlowe and Matt Conklin who each singled earlier. Lensgraf scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Traylor.
Farragut added one run each in the third, sixth and seventh innings.
La Vergne threatened in the bottom half of the second inning. Brandon Bobo and Davidson had one-out singles. Justin Holman moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt and Chris Biggs reached on a walk, but the inning ended without a run.
In the third, Oakley and Chris Camp drew one-out walks, but Farragut reliever Chase Christian entered the game to shut down any other Wolverine threat.
Christian, a left-handed submarine-style pitcher, threw four and 2/3 innings of two-hit baseball, striking out seven.
“We hadn’t seen anyone drop down like that or cut the ball the way he did,” Davidson said.
“He was a pretty good pitcher. He kept us off balance,” added Oakley.
After the final out, the Wolverine fans gave their team a standing ovation in tribute to a great season.
“We did something no other team had done,” said Oakley of La Vergne becoming the first “team” to advance to a state tournament.
“We have a whole lot to be proud of,” said Reavis. “These kids had a great season.
“These last two weeks have been unbelievable. We had an up-and-down regular season, but we made it here and we finished third in the state. It’s really unbelievable. I’m so proud of the team for getting here.”
Farragut will play Germantown today at 12:30 p.m. at Engel Stadium for the Class AAA championship. If Farragut, which is coming out of the loser’s bracket, wins, the teams will play again to decide the championship.
Farragut 7, La Vergne 0
Farragut 131 001 1 — 7 10 0
La Vergne 000 000 0 — 0 5 5
DeAlejandro, Christian (3) and Sousa; Davidson, Scott (5), Fields (7) and Rowe. WP - Christian (5-1). LP - Davidson (4-2). 2Bs: Farragut, McKenry. HRs: Farragut, Burklin (9). Records: Farragut (36-8), La Vergne (26-15).
CHATTANOOGA — The best baseball season in La Vergne school history ended Friday.
The Wolverines (26-15), who set school records in victories, won first-ever titles in the district, region and sectional tournaments lost to Knoxville Farragut (36-8), 7-0 at historic Engel Stadium.
“We were third out of 110 (teams in the state). We’ll look back on that when we’re old and remember,” said La Vergne senior Joey Davidson, one of six seniors who received diplomas following the game.
Due to the state tournament, the Wolverines missed Thursday’s graduation at MTSU.
“I’d rather be on the baseball field than (inside) at MTSU,” said another senior, Draper Oakley.
The Wolverines eliminated Riverdale on Thursday, and would have reached the state championship game today with a win over Farragut.
“The state tournament is not a good time to leave your bats at home,” said La Vergne coach Craig Reavis, referring to his team’s struggles at the plate throughout the tourney. La Vergne was shut out earlier in the tourney by Germantown, and won 1-0 over the Warriors.
Farragut’s Davis Burklin hit a two-out solo home run in the first inning. The Admirals added three more runs in the second to jump out to an early lead.
Clint Lensgraf hit a two-run single, scoring both Jay Sadlowe and Matt Conklin who each singled earlier. Lensgraf scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Traylor.
Farragut added one run each in the third, sixth and seventh innings.
La Vergne threatened in the bottom half of the second inning. Brandon Bobo and Davidson had one-out singles. Justin Holman moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt and Chris Biggs reached on a walk, but the inning ended without a run.
In the third, Oakley and Chris Camp drew one-out walks, but Farragut reliever Chase Christian entered the game to shut down any other Wolverine threat.
Christian, a left-handed submarine-style pitcher, threw four and 2/3 innings of two-hit baseball, striking out seven.
“We hadn’t seen anyone drop down like that or cut the ball the way he did,” Davidson said.
“He was a pretty good pitcher. He kept us off balance,” added Oakley.
After the final out, the Wolverine fans gave their team a standing ovation in tribute to a great season.
“We did something no other team had done,” said Oakley of La Vergne becoming the first “team” to advance to a state tournament.
“We have a whole lot to be proud of,” said Reavis. “These kids had a great season.
“These last two weeks have been unbelievable. We had an up-and-down regular season, but we made it here and we finished third in the state. It’s really unbelievable. I’m so proud of the team for getting here.”
Farragut will play Germantown today at 12:30 p.m. at Engel Stadium for the Class AAA championship. If Farragut, which is coming out of the loser’s bracket, wins, the teams will play again to decide the championship.
Farragut 7, La Vergne 0
Farragut 131 001 1 — 7 10 0
La Vergne 000 000 0 — 0 5 5
DeAlejandro, Christian (3) and Sousa; Davidson, Scott (5), Fields (7) and Rowe. WP - Christian (5-1). LP - Davidson (4-2). 2Bs: Farragut, McKenry. HRs: Farragut, Burklin (9). Records: Farragut (36-8), La Vergne (26-15).
