Ten Seahawk hits and a combined one-hit performance by their pitching staff were plenty to
thrust Silverdale past the Yellowjackets 11-0. Turner Junkins pitched the first three Silverdale
innings and struck out eight while allowing the lone Lookout Valley base hit.
After committing to continue his baseball career at MTSU on Sunday, three-hole hitter Brett
Rogers looked the part of a Division-I baseball player on Monday. Rogers went 3-3 with a
double, an RBI, and scored three runs for the Seahawks, but his powerful bat wasn’t Silverdale’s
only source of pop.
Batting ahead of Rogers, junior Owen Phillips blasted a fifth-inning three-run homer that busted
the game wide open after Lookout Valley struggled to keep pace early.
Yellowjacket pitcher Christian Chandler battled valiantly through the first two innings and struck
out six batters, but when they didn’t go down on strikes, the Silverdale bats usually made hard,
loud contact.
“Early, they weren’t very good because they threw a left-hander that was really good,” said
Silverdale head coach Lance Rorex. “Christian is dang good,” he added.
Brett Rogers drove in the first Seahawk run in the first inning and scored their second run in the
third before junior Maddox Jones drove in another on a double to right-center field. Jones traded
in his bat for a ball and pitched a flawless fourth inning, striking out a pair.
“Today was all about getting guys on the mound because we open up region play on Friday,”
said Rorex. “They were in the zone throwing pitches for a strike, so I thought they were good,”
said Rorex of his staff.
With a 6-0 lead heading into the sixth, the Silverdale bats erupted and plated five to bring the
run-rule into play. They got a little help throughout their big inning, however, capitalizing on
three Yellowjacket errors and a pair of walks.
“We haven’t played in a week, so we had to make sure we could get back on time,” said Rorex.
“Once you get more comfortable, everything kind of falls back into place,” he added.
Silverdale’s staggering 27-4 record is evidence that when they are comfortable, things do, in fact, fall into place. The Seahawks begin regional tournament play on Friday as they look to carry on the momentum of their outstanding season.
“We feel good,” said Rorex. “They’re confident. They’re old so they’ve done it before. We feel
good going into it, we just have to make sure on Friday that we play the ball really well and
don’t try to play our opponent,” said Rorex.
Heading into playoff season, Silverdale will look to use their dominant win to catapult them into
postseason success, while Lookout Valley will try to bounce back.
SILVERDALE 104 15 – 11
LOOKOUT VALLEY 000 00 – 0
Junkins, Jones (4), Reagan(5), and Reagan; Chandler, Quails (3), Pell (5), and Collins.