by Nate Drexler
posted May 25, 2005
MEMPHIS - They only got about 40 minutes after the tough loss to Christian Brothers High School to collect themselves and get ready to play Father Ryan, and after exerting so much energy in the first game, the McCallie Blue Tornado were handed their last loss of the season to a team they blanked the night before.
"I could've sworn we were going to win," said Tanner Moore. "It never crossed my mind that we were going to lose that game until the center fielder caught that ball."
The Tornado went down early against Father Ryan, and B.J. Coleman was knocked out of the game in the third after the Irish put up six runs on McCallie.
"It's tough to come back and play to our ability after such a big game," Moore commented. "We always kept our heads high, though. We never gave up."
Urgency did set in for the Tornado, and in the last four innings they put up seven runs. It was too little too late, however, and McCallie's nine run game was not quite enough to match the 11 runs that Father Ryan put up.
"We knew we could come back," said McCallie's Dave Banks. "We knew it was possible. We were just emotionally drained from the Christian Brothers game."
The game against Christian Brothers ended up as sort of a blast in the head to McCallie, who battled CBHS through several innings, but a late game implosion allowed CBHS to pick up six runs, making the final score 11-2.
"We were fatigued," said Bart Roark. "It was more emotionally than physically. We made too many mental errors. I had two errors over at third base myself. We sort of broke down. We poured so much into the Christian Brothers game, and 45 minutes later we had to come play again."
Tanner Moore played a typical postseason game for himself, picking up a couple of base hits and driving in four runs in the game. Brogan Jayne was the pitching relief for Coleman in the third. He finished the game only giving up four runs, and quieting the Father Ryan bats completely in the sixth and seventh.
McCallie looks forward to the future of the baseball program. Only losing two seniors, the team feels confident in what strides they made this season, and are looking into next sesaon with great expectations.
"A lot of teams would have gotten down being down 10-2," said Roark. "It shows a lot about the team and how competitive we are, especially to make it that close. It's a positive for next year. It was a good experience for everyone."
The bittersweet feeling on Wednesday night also allowed McCallie to look back at the success they had this season.
"In the beginning of the season we played young and immature," said Dave Banks. "No one in Chattanooga thought we were going to do anything. Look at us now, though. We're the only team from Chattanooga out here."
Banks also shared excitement about the prospect of a great season next year.
"We're stacked for next year," he said.
Box:
Game 1:
McCallie 101 000 0 2 9 2
CBHS 200 201 6 11 13 1
Game 2:
McCallie 002 123 1 9 13 3
Father Ryan 115 300 1 11 15 2
Against Christian Brothers, the score remained close for the first few innings, but the Purple Wave pulled away in front of their home crowd with a six-run seventh inning and defeated McCallie, 10-2.
Tanner Moore was the starting pitcher for McCallie in the opener. While he had moments of excellence, the mighty CBHS bats were too overbearing for the senior.
Christian Brothers defeated MBA on Tuesday, 21-2. MBA was last year's Division II champions.
Moore recorded another multi-hit game while the Tornado defense continued to make solid plays in the infield.
Box:
McCallie - 101 000 0 2 9 2
CBHS - 200 201 6 11 13 2
Email Nate at JumblingNate@gmail.com
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