We’re nearing the end of the regular season in prep sports, so teams are doing their best to get things in order as the post-season approaches.
Such is the case in District 6-AAA baseball where Soddy Daisy and Signal Mountain have already clinched the top two spots. However, there was still a battle for the third and four spots between Hixson and Red Bank.
Red Bank got the upper hand with a 2-1 win at home on Monday while the Wildcats evened things at John Plumlee Stadium/Mike DeBord Field Tuesday night with a 6-5 victory. Based on the tiebreaker procedure, Hixson will be the third seed.
Hixson coach Colton Green was somewhat disappointed in his team following Monday’s loss in a game where his team only had four hits and had a 12-game winning streak snapped.
The veteran coach was a bit happier a day later after his team finished with seven hits, but won by scoring three times in the bottom of the sixth inning. Green was a bit concerned after relief pitcher Yeray Velazquez had to exit the game in the seventh with severe discomfort in his throwing shoulder after Sean Brune had drawn the Lions within one on a two-run homer to center.
“He’s a warrior and gives everything he has on every play,” Green praised his senior, who is also the leading hitter as well. “He said he felt something pop and I’m hoping he’ll be okay, but he sprained that shoulder diving for a ball earlier and it may be related to that.
“We took the lead three times and Red Bank came back all three times, but I’m proud of the heart and poise my guys showed along the way. We didn’t get rattled. And I’m proud of Connor Birch, who entered the game in a tough situation and totally shut the door,” Green added.
Red Bank coach Matt Roberson had a disagreement with the home plate umpire during the fourth inning and got ejected from the game, so he was unavailable for comment following the game. Gene Bowles, one of the Red Bank assistants, did a nice job filling in.
“We knew that we had to play a clean game and we didn’t, but I’m proud of how we battled back. Jack Barkeloo and Sean Brune did nice job at the end making it close and I’m proud of Brayden Stoltz, who is just a freshman and has really grown up in recent weeks. I thought he did a great job, despite having the one bad inning.
“I just hope the Hixson kid is okay as I heard his arm pop when he delivered the pitch. And I could just kick myself for letting him hit in the sixth. We should have walked him intentionally, but we pitched to him instead and he had the two-run double to put them ahead. There’s still a lot of baseball left and we now need to focus on Cleveland,” he referred to Red Bank’s next opponent.
Velazquez, who had three of Hixson’s seven hits, got the first with a single in the first and scored the first run on a single by Chase Barnard. Charles Rucker followed the one-out single with a walk and scored on a fielder’s choice by Dallas Rucker for a 2-0 Wildcat lead.
Red Bank then knotted the score with two runs in the third. Anyer Alvarez led off with a walk and stole second before scoring on a one-out double by Brune. Andy Briceno then tied the game with a single to left.
Campbell Inman had a single with one out in the fourth and scored the go-ahead run on back-to-back errors by the Lions, but Red Bank once again answered the call with a single run in the fifth when Barkeloo scored on a wild pitch following a double with one out.
The score remained tied at 3-3 until the sixth when Hixson sent eight hitters to the plate and scored three times, the big blow a two-run double down the line in right by Velazquez. Bernard followed two hitters later with another double to drive in Velazquez with what turned out to be the winning run.
The Lions were down, but not out as they came to the plate for their final at-bat trailing by three runs. Barkeloo reached on a Hixson error before Brune slugged a 2-0 pitch over the fence in center for a two-run homer to make it 6-5.
Velazquez then tossed his glove into the air and walked toward second base following the next pitch as he was in obvious pain. He was replaced by Birch, who promptly got two outs on back-to-back flies to right before ending the game on a pop to short.
Velazquez had three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs to lead the Hixson attack while Inman and Bernard also had two hits each, Inman scoring twice and Bernard driving in two.
Barkeloo and Brune both had two hits for Red Bank and both scored twice with Brune also driving in three.
Velazquez earned the win in relief of starter Charles Rucker while Birch got the save. Stultz got the loss after allowing four runs on three hits in 3.2 innings. He also had two walks while striking out seven.
Hixson improves to 23-6 overall and 6-4 in district play while Red Bank is now 15-14 overall and 6-4 in district play.
RED BANK 002 010 2 – 5 6 3
HIXSON 200 103 x – 6 7 2
Alvarez, Stultz (3) and Brune, Briceno (3); C. Rucker, Velazquez (5), Birch (7) and D. Rucker.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)