Soddy Daisy's Landon Maynor throws to the plate in a game Monday night against East Hamilton. The homestanding Hurricanes grabbed a key 5AAA win over the Trojans, 12-9.
photo by Dennis Norwood
It was a tossup as to who was most excited when East Hamilton quarterback Haynes Eller strolled into new Hurricane baseball coach Matt Ramsey’s office this winter to let him know he wanted to play baseball in the spring.
“I had seen him throw a football and when he told me he wanted to come out, I couldn’t wait to get to started working with him,” Ramsey said.
From Eller’s viewpoint, it was equally stirring.
“We just hired a former major league baseball pitcher, and all I could think about was getting to work with him to see what I could become,” Eller smiled.
Both saw the fruits of that labor Monday afternoon as the Canes finally incorporated a piece of the puzzle they had missing as Eller needed 17 pitches to strike out the side in the bottom of the seventh to preserve a 12-9 slugfest to hand East Hamilton a much-needed 5AAA win over Soddy Daisy.
Actually, whichever team won would stake claim to a much-needed mark in the win column as both have struggled in league play to get that one timely hit, out or made play to secure victory.
And on the same day Haynes committed to play football at East Tennessee State, it was the strapping right-hander who provided it for the Canes.
“Today was a good day all the way around,” Eller said. “I’ve waited a long time for this and the hard work paid off. I just went out there and trusted the work we have put in. It was about knowing I was better on the mound.”
Added Ramsey, the former big leaguer: “It was fun to watch. Nothing but fastballs, and they didn’t have a chance and we knew it.”
It was a welcome relief for the Canes who despite one of the better offenses around have trouble putting away games despite an abundance of crooked number innings with the bats. And those bats did not disappoint despite the presence of Trojans’ ace Landon Maynor on the hill. Maynor continued a string of tough-luck outings in which the senior fireballer has had little to show for it. Maynor lasted just three innings and left trailing 4-3 after allowing four hits.
“We just wanted to keep it simple against him, and knew good things would happen. We have been struggling, but we had a little extra motivation today. They came out hot against us, but we kept our foot on the pedal and it paid off,” said Austin Wolcott, who drove in four runs, including the go-ahead runs in the fifth with a big two-run single to make it 10-9.
Wolcott’s hit keyed a four-run rally just after Soddy Daisy had pushed across six in the top of the fifth to take a 9-6 lead. Carson Hedrick led off with a single that got by the left fielder for a two-base error and Khaleel Marshall singled to right to make it 9-7. Joe Quinlan followed with a single and a walk to Maddox Lang loaded the bases. That’s when Ramsey rolled the dice and it paid off.
After a strikeout got the Trojans within an out of escaping it, Marshall got a big lead at third and sprinted home as soon as Hunter Ward went into his windup. Wolcott stepped out the box just as Marshall slid in with the easy steal of the plate to really get the troops riled up.
“We sat there on third and watched him in his windup and I told him if he got a good jump as soon as he lifted his leg, it would be easy, and it was. I think that really got us going to put it away,” Ramsey explained.
“I didn’t even know it was coming. I got the take sign and thought it was funny, and I saw him out of the corner of my eye at the last minute and got out of the way. It definitely fired me up to come through after that,” said Wolcott.
Wolcott lined the next pitch on a line to center and two more runs came in.
The Canes went on the add a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth as Quinlan’s third hit of the day plated two runs, and East Hamilton brought in Eller for his first appearance of the season to nail it down.
“We’ve been working really hard on mechanics and he has been very patient. He had football mechanics throwing and switching it over to baseball took some time. He hasn’t played since he was a freshman, but today was the day, and he delivered,” Ramsey said.
The Canes pounded out 13 hits on the day and needed every one of them as Soddy Daisy took a quick 3-0 lead in the first and later added the six-run fifth to retake the lead after East Hamilton had chased Maynor. Noah Ferguson got the big inning rolling after a single and walk, driving in a run with a single to center. Beaux Castelin then followed up Will Ackerman’s single with a two-run single to left, and Cam Natale singled in another to push it out 9-6.
Quinlan had three solid singles to pace the attack while Wolcott, Hedrick and Marshall each had two knocks.
Maynor, AJ Florio and Natale had two hits apiece for the Trojans as the two teams combined for 23 hits.
“The one thing I like about this team is their approach at the plate. I tell them all the time I would rather have a bad plan at the plate than no plan. It was a big win, and one we needed,” Ramsey added.
It was the second league win for the Canes to match the Trojans as both now stand at 2-5 in the 5AAA standings heading into Tuesday’s rematch at Soddy Daisy.
SODDY DAISY 300 060 0 – 9 10 3
EAST HAMILTON 103 242 x – 12 13 1
Maynor, Ward (4), Natale (6) and Cranmore; Jax Phillips, Jase Phillips (6), Eller (7) and Evans. .
(Contact James Beach at 1134james@gmail.com)