The Marion County Warriors like to do things the hard way.
For the third straight year, the Warriors had to battle their way back through the losers’ bracket in the District 6-AA baseball tournament.
And for the third year in a row, they made their effort worthwhile as they blanked the Hixson Wildcats by a 12-0 final in five innings Wednesday evening at Hixson.
Senior Hershel Bettis was the beneficiary of Marion’s attack as he went the distance while improving his record to 6-3. Two of those defeats had been against Hixson, so Wednesday’s victory was a small measure of revenge for him.
Marion scored at least one run in each their four at-bats. The lead was comfortable at 6-0 after three frames, but the Warriors scored six times in the fourth to seal the deal.
It was a pair of three-run homers in the fourth that provided the difference.
Joe Muir accounted for the first three with a homer to left while Justin Bell followed with a three-run shot of his own five batters later.
Hixson got a two-out single from Josh Coppinger in the fifth, but Bettis got Andy Duncan on a fly to right to end the game.
“I had lost to them twice earlier, but I got some revenge today,” Bettis said after throwing just 71 pitches.
“I know how well they can hit a fastball, so I used a lot of off-speed stuff and that was effective. Of course, it’s nice to have some run support, but I thought we played great baseball today,” the soft-spoken pitcher added.
“That’s three years in a row we’ve had to come through the losers’ bracket to win this tournament, but we have five seniors who just refuse to give in,” said Marion County coach Steven Roberts after watching his team improve to 29-8 overall.
“We’re not known as a home run-hitting team, but this is a launching pad and we got a couple of good pitches to hit tonight.
"Our run support early was important and Hershel’s ability to throw his off-speed stuff for strikes was another key," he continued.
“We’ve really picked it up in the last three games. It’s been feast or famine most of the year, but pitching and defense have been keys for us and we’ve gotten both this week,” Roberts added.
The Warriors had two big wins on Tuesday, beating Notre Dame in the first game before pulling out a wild 14-10 victory over Hixson.
That second game may not have affected the Warriors in a negative way, but it seemed to have a lasting effect on Hixson.
“We were deflated today and just didn’t play well,” said Hixson coach Brian Bray after his team fell to 19-15.
“The good news is that we get to keep playing on Monday. We’ll move on to another day and we’ll face another team in a different setting. There are a lot of teams wishing they were in our shoes right now.
“We were flat today. Fielding mistakes early hurt us. We didn’t play solid defense and that hurt, but we’ll rebound and see what happens on Monday. All today’s game determined was which team travels and which team plays at home,” Bray added.
Bettis allowed three hits – all singles in three different innings – while striking out three and walking two. He had plenty of offensive support.
Seven Warriors had at least one hit with Bell and Bryson Helm having two apiece. Leadoff man Blake Fowler only had one hit, but he reached four times and he scored every time.
Duncan, who normally catches for the Wildcats, got the start and was charged with the loss after allowing all 12 runs.
Zak McCarter got the last out in the fifth on a strikeout.
Duncan had a single in the first while Colton Green’s single in the fourth was the last hit before Coppinger’s single in the fifth.
Marion County will be at home on Monday to face the loser of McMinn Central and Polk County while Hixson will be on the road to face the winner.
Hixson 000 00 0 3 3
Marion Co. 123 6x – 12 9 1
Duncan, McCarter (5) and Haynes, Duncan (5); Bettis and Helm.
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)