We have now reached the end of the first week of high school baseball season and Soddy Daisy’s Hunter Ward made quite an impression for the Trojans.
The 15-year-old sophomore has been impressive in early season workouts and he proved they weren’t a fluke as he pitched a complete-game shutout in his first varsity start for the Trojans.
It came in the championship game of the Wildcat Classic at Hixson’s John Plumlee Stadium where the Trojans won their third straight game and improved to 4-2 overall on the young season with the 6-0 victory over Hixson.
Ward went the distance and scattered five hits while striking out three and walking two. The Wildcats had runners on base in every inning but the third and seventh, but Ward never flinched as he stayed in the strike zone for most of the game and got critical outs when he needed them most.
“I felt really good as this was my first varsity start, but all I had to do was throw strikes because I have an amazing defense behind me and they had my back the whole time,” Ward said shortly after the final out had been recorded.
“It was also nice to have a two-run lead before I threw my first pitch as that took all the pressure off and those four runs at the end were also nice,” he added.
Spencer Gore led off the game for the Trojans and reached on a Hixson error. Landon Maynor walked to put runners on first and second before Harrison Travis ripped a one-out double to drive in Gore. Maynor also tried to score, but was gunned down at the plate.
Hayden Maynor got hit by a pitch before Garrett Dent walked to load the bases. Aaron Couch then walked to plate the second run.
It looked like those two runs might be enough, but the Trojans added four more in the seventh to put a little icing on the cake.
Travis and Hayden Maynor both had run-scoring singles while Maynor scored the third run on a double steal. Couch then singled to right to plate Dent with the final run after the Soddy Daisy first baseman reached on a walk.
Hixson’s best chance to score came in the first when catcher Jack Julian reached on an infield hit with two out and Nic Castro walked. Ward then got Jacob McDaniel on a fly to left to end that threat.
Trevor Moore led off the Hixson second with a walk, but was stranded when Ward retired the next three.
Castro led off the fourth with a single and was sacrificed to second by McDaniel, but again, the Soddy Daisy sophomore dodged another bullet by retiring the next two.
Losing pitcher Kane Jones singled to lead off the Hixson fifth, but was retired when Brayden Moyer bounced into a taylor-made 4-6-3 double play. Manny Velazquez then singled but Alex Rollins lined to second to end that threat.
Julian singled for the second time to lead off the Hixson sixth, but Ward was up for the challenge again and retired the side without a further threat.
Then with the six-run cushion, Ward retired the side in order for only the second time all day as Soddy Daisy clinched the championship hardware.
“Hunter has been throwing the ball well in preseason, so we decided to give him a shot today to see just what he could do. That was a big first start as he went the distance and pitched a five-hit shutout,” said first-year head coach Jim Higgins.
“I can’t say enough good things about Ward, but we actually got some really good pitching the entire weekend. This is just the first step as this was just a warmup, but we have a chance to have a pretty good team if we can just stay focused on the little stuff,” Higgins nodded.
Hixson coach Colton Green also liked what he saw from his Wildcats.
“I thought we played pretty well after that first-inning error, but we just used this as a stepping stone and we wanted to give three young guys a chance on the mound. Those fellows really didn’t do a bad job. We had plenty of guys on and we hit some balls really hard, but we weren’t able to get the clutch hit,” Green added.
Hayden Maynor and Travis both had two hits for the winning Trojans while Julian was the only Hixson player with two hits.
Both teams will begin district play on Monday with Soddy Daisy traveling to Athens to face McMinn County. Hixson will host Central.
SODDY DAISY 200 000 4 – 6 6 0
HIXSON 000 000 0 – 0 5 2
Ward and Travis; Jones, Wild (3), Moyer (7) and Julian.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)