BLUFF CITY — Sullivan East’s Jonah Smith made the most of a big opportunity in Monday’s Upper Lakes Conference baseball game at John McKamey Field.
With the score was knotted at 3 with one out and a runner on second base in the bottom of the eighth inning, Smith calmly lined a single up the middle of the field to score the game’s winning run.
“Jonah had a really good at-bat,” said Sullivan East coach Mike Breuninger. “He fouled off a two-strike pitch and just came through with a hit.”
Prior to Smith’s RBI single, which led the Patriots (5-4) to a 4-3 victory over the Blue Devils (5-6), a competitive game ensued.
For the first four innings, all attention was on Blue Devils pitcher Chris Chavez, who didn’t allow a hit in 4.2 innings of work.
In the fifth, Chavez’s night imploded after a slew of walks and hit batsmen, which allowed the Patriots to tie up the game after trailing 3-0.
“[Prior to the 5th inning] I said we were going to go up there and just swing at good pitches and try to get people on base,” said Breuninger.
While all the early attention was on Unicoi’s Chavez, Sullivan East pitcher Avery McCoy was quietly putting together a quality performance. McCoy finished his outing with 6 innings pitched, 8 hits, 0 walks and 5 strikeouts.
“This is the third time Avery has pitched. I use the same word every time: bulldog,” said Breuninger. “Avery kept pitching like it was a 0-0 game.”
Following McCoy’s outing, Sullivan East’s Kaden Hicks pitched two scoreless innings of relief, which provided the opportunity for Smith to walk-off for Sullivan East in the eighth inning.
“Kaden came in there and provided us with some crucial pitches,” said Breuninger.
Up next, Sullivan East will travel to Unicoi County for a rematch Tuesday at 5 p.m.
“Any time you beat Unicoi County, it’s big,” said Breuninger. “We’ll celebrate this one tonight and come in tomorrow and try to work on winning another one.”
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