SEYMOUR, Tenn. - The pitch was down, just where Cole Presson had been throwing the ball much of the game.
Elijah Galyon knew what to do with it.
The East Tennessee State baseball signee crushed a low pitch from Presson well over the right field fence, and Seymour finally pulled away to defeat Tennessee High 7-2 in a Region 1-AAA semifinal contest on Monday evening at Don Doyle Field.
“Credit them, they were at home, they felt comfortable here and they did what they needed to do,” Tennessee High head coach Preston Roberts said.
Seymour (32-2) broke open a 1-1 game in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs in each of the final two innings to advance to face Science Hill in the regional championship game on Wednesday.
“I knew coming in this was going to be a tough game because we played them earlier in the year and it was a good ball game,” Seymour head coach Kyle Koeneman said. “Beating a good ball team two times in a year is hard to do. Thankfully for me we came out on top.”
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Another ETSU signee, southpaw Derek McCauley allowed just one hit over 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking just two. Tennessee High, which tied the score at 1-1 on an RBI single by Evan Mutter in the third, had early chances, but stranded two runners in the first and third innings.
“I think he was 7 or 8-0 and his ERA was ridiculous, Nintendo-type numbers,” Tennessee High head coach Preston Roberts said. “We kind of got to him early there with runners on second and third and less than two outs. We had guys on base, it just didn’t go our way tonight.”
McCarley, who also had two doubles and two walks, doubled, and A.J. Berry followed with one of his two singles for Seymour’s first run in the second. The Eagles finally broke through in the fifth, taking a 2-1 lead on a walk, error and double steal, and then broke it open when Gaylon’s home run left the yard
“Honestly, that was a good pitch, he just went down and got it,” Koeneman said.
Presson worked 4 1/3 innings, keeping the Eagles off-balance until Galyon’s swing.
“I felt like Cole, he wanted the ball and he went out and competed his tail off,” Roberts said. “It is a 1-1 game in the fifth and Galyon is one of the best hitters in the state and he came up in a big moment there and hit a home run. That gave them a little more breathing room. I am sure that made them feel a little more comfortable.”
Seymour added three more runs in the sixth with help from a couple of errors and a two-run double by Seth Shaw.
“When you get tight games like this in a region game, the team that makes the less amount of mistakes is the one that usually will come out and win,” Koeneman said. “We had a couple on our end, but thankfully we were able to capitalize on theirs.”
Tennessee High finished the scoring in the top of the seventh on a two-out double by Bryce Snyder and single by CJ Henley off Western Carolina signee Adam Quincy.
It was the fourth straight regional tournament appearance for the Vikings, led by a group of seven seniors that will certainly be missed next season.
“It is real simple, they mean a whole lot to me. They have taken this program to new heights,” Roberts said. “Before they came to this program people in the Tri-Cities may have known who Tennessee High baseball was, but them leaving tonight, everybody in the state knows who Tennessee High baseball is.
“They put us on the map and I can thank them enough.”