Jackets reigned victorious over Jackson County

The Trousdale County High School baseball team finished last week with a couple of games and played their first District 6-2A games this week.

At Jackson County on March 28, the Yellow Jackets came up with nine hits in their 15-1 win over the Blue Devils. The visitors took a 10-1 edge into the last inning, then added five more runs to capture their 10th consecutive victory against the boys from Gainesboro.

“We took advantage of the miscues that Jackson County gave us,” TCHS Coach Davy Cothron said. “But we left way too many runners on and that won’t work against our district schedule.”

Kobyn Calhoun, Colton Key and Jake Malmin had two hits each. Ayden Beal, Parker Day and Alex Livingston added one hit a piece.

Beal pitched the first three innings, giving up no hits, while striking out five batters. Devan Walford came on in relief to finish the game and get the win, as he rendered two hits to go along with six strike-outs.

The following day at Lebanon, the Jackets took on a 4-A opponent in the Blue Devils. Each team had nine hits, but the Hartsville boys also committed five errors in their 15-5 loss.

“Lebanon was exactly what I wanted the game to be, to face higher level competition to see if we would stay in the fight,” said Cothron. “We showed signs, but giving offenses extra outs equals crooked frames.”

Key went three for three with one RBI. Day came up with two hits and three at-bats, with one run batted in and two runs scored. Calhoun, Malmin, Peyton Scruggs and Hunter Ervin each added one hit.

The Jackets were scheduled to start this week with a home-and-home series against district foe Westmoreland, but due to the forecast of inclement weather on Tuesday, the two rivals decided to play a doubleheader on Monday at Westmoreland.

In the first game, the Jackets gave up nine hits, while committing three errors, leading to a 7-3 loss. The visitors trailed 6-1 before plating two runs in the sixth inning.

“Just too many mistakes to come back from,” Cothron said. “The errors were costly as they produced runs, and we just aren’t deep enough at this time to swing our way back.”

Malmin went two for three, while Calhoun, Beal, Day and Key added one hit a piece.

In the second game, the Jackets had more errors than hits in their 18-0 setback. They gave up runs in each of the first four innings in their fifth consecutive loss to the Eagles.

Trousdale County is scheduled to host Liberty Creek on Monday and travel to Liberty Creek on Tuesday.