Baseball seasons are filled with peaks and valleys and the Sequatchie County Indians got an early reminder of that Tuesday night at McCallie.
The Indians came in fresh off a 19-run eruption that included 11 extra base knocks among 18 total hits on Monday against Whitwell in what most would consider a peak sorta game.
McCallie silenced those bats in its season opener, though, as a pair of pitchers limited the visitors to two hits and the Blues pounded out 11 hits in a resounding 12-2 win.
It was the definition of an up-and-down start to a season, which Indian head coach Derrin Easterly was quick to point out to his squad in the post game huddle.
McCallie, on the other hand, certainly enjoyed the early view from atop the mountain.
“Man, we got some hacks in tonight,” said McCallie coach Tim Costo. “Just really proud of our approach at the plate. The guys had an idea of what they were doing, and we squared up a bunch of balls.”
The Blue Tornado got it going early with four first inning hits to push across five runs, and added runs in all but one of the run-rule shortened five-inning game.
Senior leadoff hitter Kyle Berry set the tempo with a hard single to left for one of his three hits on the night, and every McCallie hitter in the lineup had at least one hit and six different ones drove in runs.
“That’s my job. I try to hit it hard and let those guys behind me knock me in. Really a good start to the season tonight. I thought we were really clicking on all cylinders,” said Berry who scored twice and reached base all four plate appearances.
“Berry is an absolute gamer. He plays like he practices and the kids look up to him. When we do drills, he is the first in line, and it sets the pace for the rest of them in practice. He is the definition of senior leadership,” Costo praised.
McCallie got an RBI hit in the first from speedy left fielder Javen Johnson and a two-run single by Grayson Smith while taking advantage of a dropped pop-up and a bases-loaded walk for the five spot.
Blue Tornado starter Nic Mirabella, meanwhile, neutralized the Sequatchie County lumber with a wicked curveball, striking out five hitters through the first two innings. He was virtually unhittable when he got ahead of hitters so he could put them away with the deuce, but he did struggle at times finding the zone as evidence of his five walks and 39-33 strike/ball ratio.
“Both our pitchers were a little jacked up, I guess because it was the first game, but I expect them to settle down as the weather warms up. We typically do walk a lot of guys early in the year, but I’m not too worried about it,” Costo said.
With the kind of hitting the Blues displayed, probably not many things to worry about.
Carter Hewitt and Gray Glover each had second-inning RBI hits to make it 7-1. Hewitt’s was a laser to right for a double and Glover’s a liner to left. McCallie added another crooked number in the third with Austin Breedlove plating two runs with a bases-loaded hot shot off the second baseman’s glove.
McCallie ended it in the bottom half of the fifth when William Baker followed up two walks to open the inning with a double in the gap to push across the walk off run.
The Indians scored in the second with some aggressive base running. Tyler Lynn drew a walk and Logan Pitts executed the hit-and-run to perfection to put runners on the corner. Pitts then stole second and Lynn scampered home on the double steal.
Bodie Taylor had the Indians' other hit with a soft liner to right after a walk to Griffin Hall. A thrown away ball on the play allowed Hall to score with the other run.
The Indians lost a lot of arm talent between their 2019 state tournament run, last year’s throw away Covid season and the 2021 season opener this week. It showed as three Indian hurlers walked nine and hit two others while allowing 11 hits on the night.
SEQUATCHIE CO 011 00 – 2 2 2
MCCALLIE 524 01 – 12 11 1
Wright, Camp (3), Cotton (5) and Potts; Mirabella, Baker (4) and Smith.
(Contact James Beach at 1134james@gmail.com or via Twitter @beachnut1134)