BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Tennessee High Vikings have already locked up the Upper Lakes Conference title and the top seed in the TSSAA District 1-AAA baseball tournament. Sullivan East’s spot in the standings and postseason positioning is also set in stone.
Yet, that didn’t make Saturday’s contest between the archrivals any less interesting or any less dramatic.
A 3-for-3, two-RBI showing by junior first baseman Isaac Blevins led the way as THS earned a 6-3 victory over East on Saturday at Tod Houston Field in the penultimate regular-season game for both teams.
Saturday’s showdown ended in dramatic fashion as Sullivan East’s Corbin Dickenson – representing the potential go-ahead run with the bases loaded – lashed an 0-2 pitch from Bralyn Price that was snagged by Tennessee High right fielder Logan Tudor as he dove forward to catch the ball for the final out.
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“It’s a rivalry,” said Tennessee High coach Preston Roberts. “It’s a competitive, proud program over there and we’re a proud program. Anytime we face off, it’s usually a pretty good game. Neither team was throwing this game away. It had a playoff feel to it.”
The Vikings (20-4, 10-1) took two of three from East in the regular season and all three games were riveting.
Evan Mutter mashed two home runs in Tennessee High’s 5-2 win over East on March 27 in Bluff City, while the Patriots posted a 3-2 victory the following evening in Bristol as Corbin Dickenson pitched a complete-game three-hitter to hand the Vikings their first loss of the season and only conference setback.
Blevins was the hero of matchup No. 3 in 2023.
“It’s a lot of fun playing them,” Blevins said. “It’s really competitive.”
Blevins ripped a single in the second inning on what turned out to be Dickenson’s final pitch of the day.
He homered in the fourth inning off Andrew Delph and connected for a RBI double in the fifth against Avery McCoy.
That’s three hits against three different pitchers.
“I’ve been working with [THS assistant] Coach [Adam] Cross a lot to get my consistency better,” Blevins said. “I’ve struggled with consistency. When it’s there, it’s there and today it was there.”
There was no doubt about his solo homer to left-center field that gave the Vikings the lead for good.
While it’s uncertain what the exact exit velocity was on that knock, it was moving rapidly.
“It got out of here in about two seconds,” Roberts said.
It was Blevins’ second homer of the season as his previous longball came on the road against the Lebanon Pioneers last month.
“It was just perfect, off the barrel and everything,” Blevins said. “I didn’t know if it was high enough at first.”
Another neat occurrence is it came on a 2-0 pitch from Delph, who transferred to East this season after previously playing at Tennessee High.
“I had not faced him before that,” Blevins said. “That was really fun.”
Senior Braelyn Price added two hits and two RBIs for the Vikings, while freshman Gage Graziano contributed a RBI double.
THS secured its seventh 20-win season in the last eight years. The only time the program didn’t reach the 20-win mark during that stretch was in 2020 when the Vikings played only four games before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
The Bristolians close out the regular season on Monday at Unicoi County and begin District 1-AAA tournament play on Thursday at Cardinal Park in Johnson City.
“I couldn’t ask for more from our guys,” Roberts said.
Sullivan East (14-9, 5-7) received three hits and two runs from leadoff man Jake Witcher on Saturday. The Patriots close out the regular season on Monday against Chuckey-Doak and then play Volunteer in an elimination game on Wednesday in the district tournament.
A district tournament that should be entertaining.
“I’ve told the guys all season long,” said East coach Mike Breuninger. “If you look at conference, anybody can beat anybody.”
If East wins on Wednesday, the Patriots would play THS the next day.
The bunch from Bluff City beat Tennessee High to win last year’s district tourney, while the Vikings beat East in the regional title game.
When district tournament time arrives, there will be more intense games like the one that unfolded on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re going to be playing games exactly like this,” Roberts said.