Soddy-Daisy shook off a rough start and relied on the solid two-hit pitching by Dylan Perry and clutch hitting by Luke Ellis and Addison Roberts on Monday night to rally past Cleveland, 7-3, in a District 5-3A baseball showdown at Tom Higgins Field.
With the victory, Soddy-Daisy (8-6, 5-0) protected its two-game lead in the district standings.
“We’ll take it,” Trojans coach Jared Hensley said.
“We’d like to keep winning, but we’ve got a long way to go. Cleveland up that their place (Tuesday, 7 p.m.) will be tough and then we’ll start worrying about Walker Valley, Ooltewah and Bradley Central. That’s going to be a tough backstretch for us.”
Perry (4-0), a Middle Tennessee State University signee, allowed two hits – a single and double to Cleveland leadoff batter Kellye Cawood – regrouped after the Blue Raiders scored twice in the first inning, retired nine in a row in one stretch and finished the pitching gem by getting out of the seventh after allowing two baserunners.
“They hit me a little bit there early, but I kept a positive attitude and my mind was straight on the mound,” said Perry, who struck out three and walked one. “Coach Hensley and (Jamie) Tricoglou made a few adjustments and they showed up on the field. I was pushing the ball and when I got back on top of the baseball, I was in cruising speed, right where I was supposed to be.”
After Cawood’s leadoff double in the third, Perry retired nine in a row, including Clark Lockerby’s sacrifice fly. That was the last time Cleveland scored.
Perry allowed two runners – a walk to Hayden Tinsley and Lockerby’s fielder’s choice – in the sixth, but Ryan Lee bounced into a double play to end the threat.
An inning later, Perry struck out right-fielder Will Hentz, but hit Paxton Anthony. Bryce Witt’s infield grounder forced out Hentz at second and Perry induced Cole Johnson into an infield groundout, ending the game.
“Dylan has pitched some big games for us,” Hensley said. “He made good pitches in the first inning, but we kind of dumbed it up in the field, but hats off to Cleveland. They put some pressure on our defense. I don’t know where our minds were; maybe it was because we’re on spring break.
“I was never worried though. Dylan has been awesome for three years. I was interested to see how we would react. We’ve lost some games, but we haven’t been down in district games. I couldn’t be happier the way they came back from being down 3-0. They’re enjoying this whole process.”
The Blue Raiders (9-8, 2-5), without head coach Preston Scoggins and injured pitching ace Camden Sewell, took advantage of two errors to score two first-inning runs. They pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third on Cawood’s RBI double.
Soddy-Daisy finally got to Blue Raiders starter Patrick Williams, a junior committed to Lipscomb University, in the bottom of the third when designated hitter Addison Roberts stroked a two-run double to right-center field. That scored Spencer Gore, who walked, and Hayden Hunter, who singled to left.
“We got punched in the face early, but we punched them back,” Perry said.
The Trojans, who travel to Cleveland on Tuesday to complete and home-and-home series with the Blue Raiders, got RBI singles by Roberts – he went 3-for-4 and scored a run – and Luke Ellis to grab a 4-3 lead, and that RBI turned into the game-winner.
“I’ve been struggling and coach Hensley came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I don’t care what you do, just have the time of your life, have fun doing it and that’s exactly what I did,” Ellis said. “Their guy had been throwing curveballs and changeups, but started pumping fastballs toward the end. He gave me one away and there wasn’t much else to do except drive it up the middle for the hit. It felt good and I think it’ll be all positive for me the rest of the season.”
Soddy-Daisy left two runners on base in the inning when Williams retired Noah Howard on a pop to second.
Williams gave up nine hits, struck out five and walked four and was relieved by Jackson Umiker to start the seventh.
Hayden Maynor walked and scored on Jacob Jennings’ opposite-field double into the left-field corner. Jennings later scored on Roberts’ single to right. Aaron Couch, who was hit by a pitch, went to third on Roberts’ hit.
With Spencer Keylon batting, Roberts jogged toward second trying to lure a throw. Umiker looked at Couch on third, turned and ran toward Roberts. When Umiker tossed the baseball to first baseman Anthony, Couch broke for home and beat the throw for the game’s final run.
When approached for comment after the game, Cleveland assistant coach Dustin Fromm said, “Coach Scoggins is not here and I have no comment on the game.”
Linescore
Cleveland 201 000 0 – 3 2 3
Soddy-Daisy 002 023 x – 7 9 2
Perry, Umiker (6) and Lee; Perry and Howard.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)