Hurricanes Take Down Eagles, 7-4, In Own Classic

East Hamilton Then Beats Gwinnett, 10-3, For Title

  • Sunday, April 12, 2015
  • Larry Fleming
Reliever Grayson Stewart pitched four solid innings and helped East Hamilton beat Signal Mountain, 7-4, in the Hurricane Classic baseball tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Reliever Grayson Stewart pitched four solid innings and helped East Hamilton beat Signal Mountain, 7-4, in the Hurricane Classic baseball tournament on Saturday afternoon.
photo by Dennis Norwood

East Hamilton’s freshman reliever Grayson Stewart steadied the ship Saturday afternoon, the Hurricanes' bats struck for three runs in the first and sixth innings for a 7-4 win over Signal Mountain and earned a spot in the Hurricane Classic title game.

And coach Steve Garland’s squad kept the momentum going by whipping the Gwinnett (Ga.) Barons, 10-3, to capture the championship.

The title matchup may have been different had Gordon Lee been able to play one more game – Georgia High School Association rules prohibited that from happening – and Chattanooga Christian hadn’t had a prom scheduled Saturday night.

Both teams were 3-0, but could not participate in a fourth game on the classic’s final day.

That left it up to the Hurricanes and Barons to settle the championship.

“I’m really proud of Grayson Stewart,” Garland said after the win over Signal Mountain.  “He just throws strikes. He’s a quality pitcher, very reliable, always around the (strike) zone and he pitches to contact. Signal is a good hitting team.”

When Hurricanes starter Matt Watters got off to a rocky start in his two innings of work, Garland called on Stewart, who responded with four solid innings before turning the game over to closer Nick Woods in the seventh.

Stewart allowed a Charlie Trageser single in the third but the Eagles’ shortstop stayed at first.

The Eagles went down in order in the fourth.

Chris Feemster walked to open the fifth, but Walter Gailmard hit into a double play. Seth Wicker doubled to right and Trageser bounced back to the mound to end the inning. Stewart retired the Eagles in order in the sixth.

Woods took over in the seventh and quickly struck out Jackson Etter. Garrett Hensley singled and stole second. Feemster walked and Gailmard whiffed. Wicker’s single to left-center kept the inning alive. Trageser flied out to center to end the game.

The Hurricanes took a 3-1 first-inning lead with plenty of help from the Eagles’ defense. Etter, playing third base, committed two errors in the inning, but with good reason. In the top of the first, Etter singled, stole second and later scored on one of four Watters wild pitches.

While sliding in at home, Etter was hit in the head. After the inning was over, Etter told Eagles coach Josh Gandy he wasn’t feeling well.

“He had a big knot on his head and we sent him to the hospital,” Gandy said. “We think he may have a concussion from when he slid in at home.”

Matt Milita walked, went to second on Kyle Cox’s sacrifice bunt. Woods reached on Etter’s first error and Nick Fahler’s single scored Milita. Josh Aslinger’s hit moved Woods to third and with two outs Etter misplayed Watters’ ground ball, allowing Woods to score the Hurricanes’ second run.

Garrett Owen reached on a high-chop infield hit and Fahler scored.

“A couple of errors in the first inning killed us,” Gandy said, “and if you make errors against East Hamilton it’s tough to beat them.”

East Hamilton took advantage of another Signal Mountain error in the fourth, this one by Etter’s replacement. Owen reached on the misplay, stole second and scurried to third when catcher Garrett Hensley’s throw was off the mark. Owen scored on Nick Gratigny’s suicide squeeze bunt.

Signal Mountain (9-10) got two hits – singles by Etter and Feemster – in the first two innings, but scored twice on two of four Watters wild pitches and Feemster’s single to shallow right field.

In the second, Signal Mountain’s Kaleb Menzel was hit by a pitch, stole second and moved to second and then scored on two wild pitches.

“We gave them back a couple of runs on the hit batter and wild pitches,” Garland said. “(Assistant coaches) Josh Carpenter and Shane Taylor work with our pitchers and they go out there and battle.”

Woods came on in the seventh to protect the Hurricanes’ four-run lead.

He quickly recorded a strikeout. Hensley singled to right and stole second. Feemster walked, but Gailmard fanned. Wicker delivered a two-out single to left-center. Trageser flied out to center, ending the game.

In the title game, Woods, Fahler and Watters each had two hits while pitchers Hunter Smith, Matt Wingard and Tyler Blum combined on a six-hitter.

LINESCORE

Signal Mountain                          120 000 1 – 4 6 4

East Hamilton                               300 103 x – 7 8 0

Glasscock and Hensley; Watters, Stewart (3), Woods (7) and Owen.

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

Signal Mountain's Lee Nagle steals second base in the first inning against East Hamilton on Saturday. The Hurricanes' Brandon DelValle takes the throw from catcher Garett Stone too late to make the tag.
Signal Mountain's Lee Nagle steals second base in the first inning against East Hamilton on Saturday. The Hurricanes' Brandon DelValle takes the throw from catcher Garett Stone too late to make the tag.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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