Dragons host Clinton Invitational
Clinton third baseman Luke Perez tags a Powell baserunner during Monday’s game.
The Eagles scored three runs in the third, added a run in the fourth, scored three more times in the sixth, and one in the seventh.
The offensive highlights for the Dragons were few.
Blake Sherwood and Tyler Davis each went 1-3 with a double while Luke Perez provided the only other Clinton hit.
Alex Burton went four innings and took the loss. He allowed four earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts.
On Thursday, the Dragons opened play in the Clinton Invitational with a 10-0 win in five innings over Maryville Christian.
Clinton opened scoring in the third when Peter Souleyrette drew a two-out walk. He moved to second on a base hit by Sherwood and scored on a single by Davis. Sherwood then scored on a base hit by Burton to give the Dragon a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Clinton added seven runs to take a 9-0 lead.
Isaiah Murphy led-off and was hit by a pitch. He then stole second. Shea Harber reached on an error and Murphy moved to third. Harber then stole second. A wild pitch scored Murphy and moved Harber to third. Spencer Byrd walked as did Souleyrette, to load the bases. Sherwood was hit by a pitch and that scored Harber. With the bases still loaded, Perez singled to score two runs. An errant throw on a pick-off attempt scored Sherwood and moved Perez to third. Burton then walked and stole second. Duncan reached on an infield hit to load the bases. Harber was hit by a pitch to score Perez. A balk was later called on the pitcher to score Burton.
In the bottom of the fifth, Souleyrette led-off with a walk and then scored on an RBI-double by Sherwood to end the game.
Duncan went three innings to get the win. He allowed no hits and struck out three. He was also 2-3 at the plate.
Harber came on in relief and pitched two innings. He allowed no hits and struck out three as well.
At the plate, Sherwood was 3-3 with two doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored. Davis was 1-3 with an RBI and Perez was 1-2 with two RBI. Souleyrette drew three walks and scored three runs.
In their second game on Thursday, the Dragons fell to Cherokee by a score of 11-0 in five innings.
The Chiefs did their damage in the first three innings as they scored three in the first, six in the second, and two in the third.
Clinton was held to just two hits — singles Jon Webb and Chase Lockard.
On Friday, the Dragons lost to Lenoir City by a score of 7-5 in eight innings in their third game of the tournament.
After the Panthers scored one in the first, Clinton scored when Webber walked with the bases loaded to score Sherwood.
In the bottom of the third, the Dragons took a 3-1 lead when Davis reached on an error and Duncan singled. Webber dropped a sacrifice bunt and error allowed Davis to score and moved Duncan to second. A base hit by Harber scored Duncan.
The Panthers added a run in the top of the fourth to trim the Clinton lead to 3-2.
The Dragons added a run in the fifth when Davis reached on an error. Duncan and Webb had back-to-back singles to load the bases. Harber executed a beautiful squeeze bunt to score Davis.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, back-to-back pinch hitters delivered for the Panthers to score two runs to send the game into extra innings.
Lenoir City scored three runs in the top of the eighth to take a 7-4 lead.
Harber led off the eighth getting hit by a pitch. With one out and one on, Byrd drew a walk. A wild pitch moved both runners up and a sac-fly by Perez scored Harber. That was all of the scoring Clinton could muster as they suffered a frustrating loss.
“It was a frustrating week with the way our defense played,” said Matt Byrd, head coach of the Dragons.
Sherwood suffered the loss in relief. He went three and two-thirds innings, allowed four earned runs on six hits and had four strikeouts.
At the plate, Perez was 2-3 with an RBI and a walk. Davis was 1-3 with a walk and two runs scored. Harber was 1-2 with two RBI and a run scored.
Clinton came out the wrong end of a pitching duel on Monday night as they fell to visiting Powell by a score of 2-0.
The Panthers got two runs off of Burton in the first and he shut them down the rest of the way. Unfortunately for him, the Dragons mustered only two hits — a pair of singles by Perez.
Burton took the hard-luck loss as he pitched seven innings and allowed two runs on four hits.
“Burton pitched great again and kept us the game but we just couldn’t get any offense. We did face one of the better pitchers in the district and we’re young. Most of our guys have never seen pitching like this,” said Byrd.
He also noted the defensive effort as the team had no errors.
“We’re starting to click and this team is improving,” he said.
The Dragons will host Cocke County on Thursday at 7 p.m. and visit Karns on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
They will visit Union County on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Anderson County on Monday at 7 p.m. On Tuesday, the Dragons will host Anderson County at 7 p.m.