Dragons play two in Giles County
Jonathan Byrd, head coach of Giles County (left) shakes hands with his broher, Matt Byrd, head coach of Clinton on Saturday.
The Bobcats jumped out to a 2-0 in the first before Clinton answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning and tied the game with a run in the second.
Oliver Springs scored twice in the third to go up 4-2 but the Dragons plated two in the bottom of the inning to tie the game.
Clinton blew the game open with a six-run fourth inning. The rally was keyed by an RBI-double by Trey Herrell.
The Dragons scored three in the fifth to close out scoring.
In all, Clinton hammered out 11 hits.
Blake Sherwood was 3-4 with a double while Herrell was 2-2 with a double and two RBI.
Tyler Davis was 2-4 with an RBI and Zack Webber was 1-2 with a double and two RBI.
Peter Souleyrette, Shea Harber, and Isaiah Murphy also each had a base hit.
Luke Perez went three innings for the win. He allowed three earned runs on four hits while fanning six.
In the second game, Clinton won 4-3 in five innings.
The Bobcats drew first blood with a run in the third. The Dragons answered with four in the bottom of the inning.
Oliver Springs added a run in the fourth and one in the fifth.
Luke Johnson went five innings for the win. He allowed one earned run on four hits with four strikeouts.
Herrell was 1-2 with two RBI while Sherwood was 1-2 with a double and an RBI. Perez, Murphy, and Jon Webb each had a base hit.
“We had a total of 18 hits [in the double header]. We started swinging the bats really well and pitching really picked up as well,” said Matt Byrd, head coach of the Dragons.
On Saturday, the Dragons traveled to Giles County for a couple of games.
In the first game, they fell to Richland by a score of 8-5 despite out-hitting the Raiders 10-7.
Richland scored two in the first but Clinton plated two in the third to tie the game. The Raiders scored two in the fourth, one in the fifth, and three in the sixth to go up 8-2.
The Dragons scored three in the sixth but that was as close as they could get.
Jackson Duncan took the loss as he went four innings and allowed no earned runs on three hits with two strikeouts. He was 2-4 at the plate.
Davis went 2-4 with a double and an RBI while Murphy was 2-3.
“Richland is a 1A school but they have only lost one game all year. They swing it really well and they are one of the top 1A teams in the state. We played good and hit the ball well but we had three errors and that cost us,” Byrd said.
In the second game, Clinton fell to host Giles County and head coach Jonathan Byrd, brother of CHS Head Coach Matt Byrd, by a score of 6-1.
The Bobcats did their damage as they plated three runs in the first and three more in the second. The Dragons got a run in the fifth when Sherwood doubled to score Jackson Leinart.
One of the bright spots for Clinton was the performance of reliever Chase Lockard, who pitched four innings and allowed no runs and no hits while striking out three. He was also 1-1 at the plate.
“Giles County is a 2A school and better than any 2A school in East Tennessee in my opinion. They threw their number one starter at us and he tops out at around 87 [mph on his fastball]. We hit the ball hard but we had two bad innings and they put six runs on us but Chase Lockard came in and shut them down. He pitched real well,” Byrd said.
“Overall, we played good baseball but got beat by a good team. It was a fun trip and a good experience. It was something we needed. Our bats are starting come along a little bit and that’s obviously going to help us,” he said.
The Dragons host Fulton on Wednesday at 6 p.m. They visit Knox Central on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and travel to Fulton for a 6 p.m. game on Friday. The Dragons visit Oak Ridge on Monday at 5 p.m. and host the Wildcats on Tuesday at 7 p.m.