Even with a slow start in Thursday’s nonconference game against Knox West, Science Hill’s baseball team had its offense show up again in a big way.
The Hilltoppers improved to 4-0 on the early season with an 8-3 win over the Rebels as part of the “Playing for the Cure” event at TVA Credit Union Ballpark after falling behind by two runs early.
“We need (the offense) to (continue to show up),” Science Hill coach Ryan Edwards said. “We’re very young on the mound and it shows. Even though we threw a senior today, he still hasn’t had a lot of innings. We don’t have a lot of experience on the mound right now.”
Science Hill’s big bats proved once again they are not to be trifled with. Josh Marmo went 3-for-4 with a pair of singles and an RBI triple in the fifth that broke the game open. Major Osbolt was also big for the Johnson City nine, reaching base and scoring three times.
Marmo tallied two RBIs while Nate Stoots, Caden Wells, Aiden Vermillion and Sam Lane all had one RBI.
“(The triple) definitely broke the game open,” Edwards said. “That was right after he got fooled on a changeup. He was able to sit on the fastball and get a good one.”
Knox West (1-5) got off to a fast start with two runs in the opening frame, roughing up Science Hill senior starter Austin Denham for one hit and three walks.
Denham managed to last into the third inning before Spencer Taylor relieved him. Sam Royston came in the fourth and ultimately pick up the win, striking out a pair without allowing a hit in 2 1/3 innings. Cole ReSue got the final three outs.
“(Denham) had a few starts last year as a junior, but he’s still trying to come back from an arm surgery,” Edwards said. “What I told him is that last year, that one bad inning he had would’ve turned into a disaster, but because his stuff has gotten better, he was able to work out of some things.
“We were hoping to get one or two outs out of Sam Royston and he goes out there and gets us the win.”
In four games so far this year, Science Hill has used a variety of lineups. Thursday showed some promise for the bottom of the lineup, however, as No. 7 hitter Vermillion reached base twice, and so did No. 8 hitter Tucker Lewis.
In the No. 9 spot, Lane had a solid bunt in the second inning that ended up turning into extra bases thanks to a throwing error. Lewis scored on the play and got the ’Toppers on the board.
“We’re figuring some things out and I’ve got five guys that are consistently in there,” he said. “We have a good idea of what we’re going to do after this weekend. We’ll probably mix it up for the whole month of March.
“Lane turned a nothing inning into a scoring one with that bunt he laid down in the nine hole, so we did some manufacturing and small ball today to keep us in the game.”
The schedule doesn’t get easier for Edwards’ crew either, as they’ll take a weekend road trip to Knoxville to play Bearden and Montgomery Central of Clarksville on Saturday.
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