Most high school baseball coaches use weekend tournaments to give younger players a chance to prove themselves and to find out just who can perform in the clutch when a close game is on the line.
The Boyd-Buchanan Buccaneers got a chance to find out how potent their offense can be in two games in the Yellow Jacket Invitational.
The Bucs battled to an 18-18 tie with Rockwood in their first game of the day at South Pittsburg. They came back a couple of hours later and scored 19 more runs, defeating host Lookout Valley by a 19-4 final in six innings at Janice Boydston Field.
The Bucs are now 9-4-2 after Friday's action, but coach Josh Rider has to be feeling good about a lineup that scored almost at will and hit well with runners in scoring position.
"Our defense played well after the first inning, but we hit it well all day. We had three home runs in that second game, which doubles our total for the year. But it was nice to finally see us get some big hits," he continued.
"Blake (Cordle) did a good job on the mound as he picked up his first win of the season. He had a rough start in the first inning, but he bounced back and did what we needed him to do," Rider added.
Cordle pitched five innings and allowed three runs on four hits while striking out four and walking just one.
Jacob Terry came on and pitched the final inning for the Bucs.
Boyd-Buchanan jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, only to watch as Lookout Valley tied it with three in their half of the inning.
Neither team scored in the second inning, but the Bucs scored at least two runs in each of the next four innings, including four in the fourth and eight more in the sixth when they put the game out of reach.
Austin Bailey was the big hitter for the Bucs as he collected three hits in the game against Lookout Valley, including a big three-run homer in the fourth when his team extended its lead to 9-3. He finished the game with five runs batted in.
While Bailey hit a round-tripper, Rance Harden and Clayton Parker both had solo shots in the second.
Harden and Parker both finished with two hits apiece with Harden collecting two runs batted in while Parker added two more with a double to finish the game with three RBIs.
Austin Cline also had a pair of hits and an RBI. Thatcher Smith had a two-run double while John Hale, Reid Smith, Jim Cardwell and Cordle all added a hit as the Bucs finished with 15 hits for the game.
Vann Scribner and Levi Wallace had back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the first inning for Lookout Valley while C.J.
Horton plated the third run with a sacrifice fly.
Tony Summerow was the only Lookout Valley player with two hits.
Despite the lopsided score, Lookout Valley coach Wes Caldwell felt good about the progress his team is making.
"Most folks think that a team made a bunch of errors when you see a score like this, but we really didn't kick it around a whole lot. I saw a lot of improvement in several different areas, but we're just trying to be more solid in every area of the game.
"We're a work in progress, but the best thing is that we get to turn around and play again," he said after his team dropped to 9-7 overall.
While Cordle was the winning pitcher, Horton took the loss.
BOYD-BUCHANAN 302 428 -- 19 15 1
LOOKOUT VALLEY 300 001 -- 4 5 2
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)