University High Knocks off West Ridge on Wolves' Senior Night
Sports can bring the thrill of victory as well as the agony of defeat, Jim McKay said long ago. University School and West Ridge baseball teams modeled both ends on Thursday.
Never shying away from a chance to step it up in competition, "University High" has played good baseball for years, and the Buccaneers displayed once again that size actually doesn't matter, claiming a 5-4 victory over the Wolves at the Evelyn Rafalowski Athletic Complex.
The non-conference result left UHigh with a 16-9 record and West Ridge with a 9-15 mark.
The Buccaneers are a local Class 1A power, earning their way to the last five state tournaments under Josh Petty. The last time they didn't make it to state (2017), they still won 20 games. However, Petty gave up the reins following last season after 11 years in charge, and the new guy -- a familiar face in the Tri-Cities -- is cruising along at about the same altitude.
Christian Taylor, a former star at Sullivan East who went on to play at Milligan before returning to Bluff City to spend the last decade as an assistant under Mike Breuninger, is up for the gig.
"West Ridge is in one of the toughest conferences in the state of Tennessee, and they've got a good program even if their record doesn't show it," the first year head coach said. "UHigh does, too (have a good program). We play high-level baseball and we play a competitive schedule."
In addition to West Ridge, the Buccaneers also play Class AAAA schools Dobyns-Bennett, Morristown East, Morristown West and Jefferson County, plus AAA Tennessee High, Sullivan East, David Crockett, Unicoi County and Elizabethton. They also beat East and Unicoi County.
University High isn't scared and never has been, as far as anyone can remember.
Taylor inherited a successful foundation, so he can spend time tweaking instead of rebuilding.
"I've been an assistant coach for 10 years and I've been in the travel game (as a director of operations with the Tri-Star Titans organization) for equally as long," Taylor said. "You know, there's new challenges as head coach, like managing the characters and managing the lineup.
"But, it's just good to put my stamp on a program, and we'll see where we can go."
So far, so good at the little Johnson City school, which has less than 300 students.
West Ridge, with over 1,700 students, hasn't fared as well this season, after winning nearly 20 games in each of its first two years in existence.
And third-year head coach Michael Hoover, a longtime baseball veteran with even more experience than Taylor, is running out of patience.
He couldn't understand how his team seemed to shift into a sort of auto-pilot mode offensively after grabbing a 3-0 lead through one inning against UHigh pitcher Knox Poston. He also could not understand how he could have baserunners picked off by Poston in consecutive innings.
Dropping a one-run game might indicate that a team competed, but maybe not this time.
"Nah, I don't know that we did," Hoover said. "After the first inning we just kind of relaxed, had bad approaches at the plate ... just not understanding situations, not really competing a whole lot at the plate. I was very disappointed with our effort at the plate.
"I thought Cade (Duncan) and Reed (White) did enough to win on the mound, but we just didn't compete the way we needed to."
The Wolves, who were blanked in conference play this season, are what they are at this point. The double-elimination District 1-AAAA tournament begins next week, and that certainly won't be a picnic against the likes of Daniel Boone, Science Hill and D-B.
"At some point we've got to stop using the excuse that we're young and experienced," Hoover said. "They've played enough games now, that can't be an excuse anymore.
"When you have guys (starters Morgan Ward and Brayden Barr) out of the lineup and new guys get opportunities, you've got to make the most of them, and we just didn't do that tonight."
University High battled from behind twice, overcoming its three-run deficit with a 3-spot of its own in the top of the third, then effectively winning it with a pair of runs in the fifth.
Down 4-3 after West Ridge scored a run in the home half of the fourth, the Buccaneers immediately responded by grabbing their first lead of the game.
Duncan, who'd given up three runs through four innings, pitched the fifth for Hoover, but the right-hander hit Daxon Letterman with a pitch to open the frame, setting the table for a rally.
Leadoff hitter River Kindle followed with a ringing double to left-center field to tie the game, before Peter Boynewicz lined one to nearly the same spot with two outs, making it a 5-4 game.
In a well-pitched game which featured just five hits by each team, the two baggers were huge, but just the kind of play Taylor has come to expect from Kindle and Boynewicz.
"They're both super fiery, they're energetic and they're competitors, and you want that on your baseball team," the 35-year-old Taylor said. "They play basketball and baseball -- can jump out of the gym, so they're ultra-athletic. Peter's a walking highlight reel."
Up by a run, Poston was now grooving. A right-hander who flooded the zone with 61 strikes out of 85 pitches, the junior didn't allow a run over the last three innings. He preserved his win by getting Ryker Hann to ground out to shortstop Jack Harmon to end the game with runners at first and second, setting off a nice celebration for the Bucs.
"He (Poston) was amped up to get the start today," Taylor said. "And once he was able to settle in and have good pitch selection, he was able to get a good rhythm and keep it, compete every pitch and get the job done."
Poston finished with the five-hitter and four earned-runs allowed, striking out six and issuing four free passes, including three hit batsmen. His pickoffs at first base in the second and third innings -- with no outs and one out -- short-circuited possible West Ridge rallies.
Duncan took the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) and all five UHigh hits while striking out two, walking none and hitting two batters. White faced the minimum of six batters in his two innings of relief -- he hit a batter as well, but West Ridge turned a double play soon thereafter.
West Ridge started like a house afire, its first three batters of the game reaching base and scoring. Alex Ireson singled and Kade Oliver had an RBI single, while White and Kas Click both had run-scoring ground outs. Parker Senn had led off the uprising by getting hit by a pitch.
UHigh tied the game in similar fashion in the third inning, Boynewicz and Cooper Stevenson plating runs with ground-ball outs, and the other run scoring on a successful sacrifice bunt coupled with a West Ridge throwing error. Letterman again led off the rally, this time with a single, before Kindle became a victim of the ever-popular hit-by-pitch.
The Wolves gained their temporary one-run edge in the fourth on the ever-popular ground-ball out, this time off the bat of Josh Seto.
No player in the game had more than one base hit.
University won despite making five errors. West Ridge lost despite making just one error.
University High -- Knox Poston and Daxon Letterman. West Ridge -- Cade Duncan, Reed White (6) and Josh Seto. W -- Knox Poston. L -- Cade Duncan.
Never shying away from a chance to step it up in competition, "University High" has played good baseball for years, and the Buccaneers displayed once again that size actually doesn't matter, claiming a 5-4 victory over the Wolves at the Evelyn Rafalowski Athletic Complex.
The non-conference result left UHigh with a 16-9 record and West Ridge with a 9-15 mark.
The Buccaneers are a local Class 1A power, earning their way to the last five state tournaments under Josh Petty. The last time they didn't make it to state (2017), they still won 20 games. However, Petty gave up the reins following last season after 11 years in charge, and the new guy -- a familiar face in the Tri-Cities -- is cruising along at about the same altitude.
Christian Taylor, a former star at Sullivan East who went on to play at Milligan before returning to Bluff City to spend the last decade as an assistant under Mike Breuninger, is up for the gig.
"West Ridge is in one of the toughest conferences in the state of Tennessee, and they've got a good program even if their record doesn't show it," the first year head coach said. "UHigh does, too (have a good program). We play high-level baseball and we play a competitive schedule."
In addition to West Ridge, the Buccaneers also play Class AAAA schools Dobyns-Bennett, Morristown East, Morristown West and Jefferson County, plus AAA Tennessee High, Sullivan East, David Crockett, Unicoi County and Elizabethton. They also beat East and Unicoi County.
University High isn't scared and never has been, as far as anyone can remember.
Taylor inherited a successful foundation, so he can spend time tweaking instead of rebuilding.
"I've been an assistant coach for 10 years and I've been in the travel game (as a director of operations with the Tri-Star Titans organization) for equally as long," Taylor said. "You know, there's new challenges as head coach, like managing the characters and managing the lineup.
"But, it's just good to put my stamp on a program, and we'll see where we can go."
So far, so good at the little Johnson City school, which has less than 300 students.
West Ridge, with over 1,700 students, hasn't fared as well this season, after winning nearly 20 games in each of its first two years in existence.
And third-year head coach Michael Hoover, a longtime baseball veteran with even more experience than Taylor, is running out of patience.
He couldn't understand how his team seemed to shift into a sort of auto-pilot mode offensively after grabbing a 3-0 lead through one inning against UHigh pitcher Knox Poston. He also could not understand how he could have baserunners picked off by Poston in consecutive innings.
Dropping a one-run game might indicate that a team competed, but maybe not this time.
"Nah, I don't know that we did," Hoover said. "After the first inning we just kind of relaxed, had bad approaches at the plate ... just not understanding situations, not really competing a whole lot at the plate. I was very disappointed with our effort at the plate.
"I thought Cade (Duncan) and Reed (White) did enough to win on the mound, but we just didn't compete the way we needed to."
The Wolves, who were blanked in conference play this season, are what they are at this point. The double-elimination District 1-AAAA tournament begins next week, and that certainly won't be a picnic against the likes of Daniel Boone, Science Hill and D-B.
"At some point we've got to stop using the excuse that we're young and experienced," Hoover said. "They've played enough games now, that can't be an excuse anymore.
"When you have guys (starters Morgan Ward and Brayden Barr) out of the lineup and new guys get opportunities, you've got to make the most of them, and we just didn't do that tonight."
University High battled from behind twice, overcoming its three-run deficit with a 3-spot of its own in the top of the third, then effectively winning it with a pair of runs in the fifth.
Down 4-3 after West Ridge scored a run in the home half of the fourth, the Buccaneers immediately responded by grabbing their first lead of the game.
Duncan, who'd given up three runs through four innings, pitched the fifth for Hoover, but the right-hander hit Daxon Letterman with a pitch to open the frame, setting the table for a rally.
Leadoff hitter River Kindle followed with a ringing double to left-center field to tie the game, before Peter Boynewicz lined one to nearly the same spot with two outs, making it a 5-4 game.
In a well-pitched game which featured just five hits by each team, the two baggers were huge, but just the kind of play Taylor has come to expect from Kindle and Boynewicz.
"They're both super fiery, they're energetic and they're competitors, and you want that on your baseball team," the 35-year-old Taylor said. "They play basketball and baseball -- can jump out of the gym, so they're ultra-athletic. Peter's a walking highlight reel."
Up by a run, Poston was now grooving. A right-hander who flooded the zone with 61 strikes out of 85 pitches, the junior didn't allow a run over the last three innings. He preserved his win by getting Ryker Hann to ground out to shortstop Jack Harmon to end the game with runners at first and second, setting off a nice celebration for the Bucs.
"He (Poston) was amped up to get the start today," Taylor said. "And once he was able to settle in and have good pitch selection, he was able to get a good rhythm and keep it, compete every pitch and get the job done."
Poston finished with the five-hitter and four earned-runs allowed, striking out six and issuing four free passes, including three hit batsmen. His pickoffs at first base in the second and third innings -- with no outs and one out -- short-circuited possible West Ridge rallies.
Duncan took the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) and all five UHigh hits while striking out two, walking none and hitting two batters. White faced the minimum of six batters in his two innings of relief -- he hit a batter as well, but West Ridge turned a double play soon thereafter.
West Ridge started like a house afire, its first three batters of the game reaching base and scoring. Alex Ireson singled and Kade Oliver had an RBI single, while White and Kas Click both had run-scoring ground outs. Parker Senn had led off the uprising by getting hit by a pitch.
UHigh tied the game in similar fashion in the third inning, Boynewicz and Cooper Stevenson plating runs with ground-ball outs, and the other run scoring on a successful sacrifice bunt coupled with a West Ridge throwing error. Letterman again led off the rally, this time with a single, before Kindle became a victim of the ever-popular hit-by-pitch.
The Wolves gained their temporary one-run edge in the fourth on the ever-popular ground-ball out, this time off the bat of Josh Seto.
No player in the game had more than one base hit.
University won despite making five errors. West Ridge lost despite making just one error.
University High | 003 | 020 | 0 | -- | 5 | 5 | 5 |
West Ridge | 300 | 100 | 0 | -- | 4 | 5 | 1 |
University High -- Knox Poston and Daxon Letterman. West Ridge -- Cade Duncan, Reed White (6) and Josh Seto. W -- Knox Poston. L -- Cade Duncan.
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