You almost never see a high school athletic event end in a tie as there are overtime considerations for every sport.
The exception to that rule is tournament play in baseball and softball where time limits sometimes come into play.
That was the case in the Wildcat Classic at Hixson’s John Plumlee Stadium Saturday afternoon as the South PIttsburg Pirates and the Sale Creek Panthers battled to a 5-5 draw in seven innings before the time limit was reached.
Both teams had more than one chance to score more runs, but on a day when the air was brisk and the wind was fierce, it seemed like each team would turn a timely double play when something good was about to happen.
Sale Creek is now 3-0-1 while South Pittsburg is now 2-2-1.
“This was a good game to learn from, but it’s one we just have to put in our rearview mirror and move on,” Sale Creek coach Jimmy Pierce told his kids following the game as they prepared to head to Ooltewah for another game with Gwinnett County.
“Play was a bit sloppy on both sides and may have been our worst performance of the season so far, but I feel like we should have won it. I’m sure those guys from South Pittsburg feel the same way, but they made some uncharacteristic plays and so did we.
“It’s still early, but we just have to move on and keep working to get better,” Pierce added
“That game was back and forth. Both teams made some outstanding plays, but you just hate to walk off the field with a draw,” South Pittsburg coach J.D. Genter said while filling out his lineup card for his next game against Notre Dame.
“Both teams had chances to win, but it seemed like we both got timely double plays to get out of trouble. That’s baseball. All we needed in our final at-bat was a simple single and that would have been the difference, but that’s just how it goes at times. I was pleased with the way we played for the most part,” Genter added.
It really was a back-and-forth game as Sale Creek took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. The Pirates regained the advantage with three runs in the bottom of the third before Sale Creek went back on top 4-3 with a pair of runs in the fourth.
A single run in the fifth put the Panthers up 5-3 before the Pirates knotted the score with two in the bottom of the inning. Neither team scored in the final two innings.
Camden Penny had run-scoring singles in the first and fifth inning for Sale Creek while Garrett Pickett had an RBI-single for the Panthers in the fourth.
Coy Hackney slugged a solo homer for South Pittsburg to lead off the fifth while Kamden Wellington got an RBI with a groundout in the fifth.
Sale Creek’s Jacob Elrod was the third pitcher as he worked the final two innings and didn’t allow a run, but he was on the edge of disaster in both innings.
Luke Rector, the only Pirate with two hits, led off the sixth with a single and went to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Austin Jackson. Rector then went to third on a wild pitch, but was tagged out by Sale Creek catcher Drew Hillion after he broke for home following a strikeout by Ethan Blevins.
Then in the seventh, Elrod played with a little more fire, but escaped without getting burned.
One-out walks to Hackney and Jace Stone put two runners on before he ended the threat with a pair of strikeouts, but he reached a three-ball count on all four of the last hitters he faced.
Sale Creek had runners on in both the last two innings, but double plays ended both threats.
Garrett Pickett and Penny were the only Sale Creek players with two hits while Rector was the only South Pittsburg player with two.
There were several games still being played Saturday night at Hixson, Central and Ooltewah with the top two teams advancing to the championship game set for 1 p.m. on Sunday at Hixson.
SALE CREEK 200 210 0 – 5 7 3
SOUTH PITTSBURG 003 020 0 – 5 5 3
Pickett, McGlocklin (4), Elrod (6) and Hillion, Moreno (4) and Hillian (6); Henson, Mayfield (5) and Case, Wellington (6).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)