Mavericks sweep Dragons
Anderson County’s Denver Hubbard drives a pitch against Clinton on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the Mavericks rode the strong left arm of starter Ryan Moog on their way to a 4-0 win.
Moog was dominant on the mound. He pitched all seven innings and allowed just one hit - a fourth inning two-out single by Blake Sherwood. Moog also racked up 13 strikeouts with no walks.
Anderson County got on top early as they scored scored two in the first. Clinton starter Alex Burton struggled with his command and walked four batters. The Mavericks got their first run when Chase Elkins drew a walk to score Zeke Meyers. Denver Hubbard later scored on a groundout by Thomas Sexton.
Anderson County added a run in the top of the third when Hubbard led off with a base hit and moved to second on a groundout by Trey Noe. He later scored on an error.
The Mavericks added their fourth and final run in the top of the fourth when Andy Fox drew a lead-off walk. Jonathan Hodge sacrificed him to second. He moved to third on a fly out to right by Rhett Bowling and scored on a RBI-single by Meyers.
“Tip you hat to Ryan Moog. Look at his stat line - 13K’s and no walks. He’s been exceptional all year. On the year he’s got 40 strikeouts and four walks. With that ratio, we’ll win a lot of baseball games if he’s throwing like that,” said Ben Downs, head coach of the Mavericks.
He also noted the play of his fielders.
“We didn’t have to make a lot of plays behind him tonight but when we did, we made them,” said Downs.
The offensive numbers by the Dragons were sparse. Sherwood collected Clinton’s only hit and was their only baserunner for the game.
Burton took the loss but pitched a good game. He went five innings and allowed four runs on four hits with five walks.
Luke Johnson came on in relief. He allowed one hit and no runs with a walk and two strikeouts.
“Same story, different day - we’re just not hitting the ball. Alex [Burton] was a little nervous in the first and struggled with his control but otherwise pitched well and Luke [Johnson] did a great job in relief. We’re just going to keep working and find a way to get our bats going,” said Matt Byrd, head coach of the Dragons.
On Thursday evening, Anderson County slogged their way to a 3-1 win over the Dragons on a cold and wet April night.
The game was originally scheduled for Monday but was rained out. It rescheduled for Wednesday and was again rained out. For the better part of the first two innings the two teams played in a light drizzle.
Out of the less than ideal weather, a genuine pitcher’s duel developed between Clinton’s Trey Herrell and Anderson County’s Elkins.
Luke Perez led-off the game with a single for Clinton but the Dragons were unable to capitalize.
Bowling drew a lead-off walk for the Mavericks and advanced to third on a base hit by Hubbard. Noe reached on a fielder’s choice and picked up an RBI when Bowling scored to give Anderson County the 1-0 lead.
Burton led-off the top of the second with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Herrell. He later scored on an error to tie the game at 1-1.
That score held until the bottom of the sixth. Hubbard reached on a fielder’s choice and Noe singled to move him to third. Hunter Melton came on as a courtesy runner for Noe and stole second. Hubbard then scored on a dropped third strike and Melton moved to third. Caleb Wilhoit singled to score Melton and give the Mavericks the 3-1 lead.
In the seventh, Zack Webber drew a two-out walk but that was as close to a rally as the Dragons could muster.
For the Mavericks, Elkins was lights out. He went all seven innings, allowed no earned runs on four hits while striking out 13 and walking one.
For the Dragons, Herrell pitched a great game as well. He went the distance and allowed three runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
“Chase [Elkins] threw great. He struggled with his command early but once he got locked in from the second inning on, he was working more ahead in the count and did a great job,” said Downs. “We didn’t hit it well tonight but you’ve got to tip your cap to the Herrell kid. He pitched great and kept us off-balance so a lot of that goes to him and the way he pitched tonight.”
“It was a good baseball game - rivalry game with two good guys pitching on the mound and not a lot of hits. Luckily there in the sixth inning we made something happen and got an insurance run to let Chase finish it out,” he said.
“It was great pitching performance both ways. Elkins and Trey Herrell just pitched their butts off all night. It was a great pitching performance. Defense for us played well and we finally started hitting the ball a little bit tonight. We started putting a little pressure on AC and good things started happening for us We just came up a little short,” said Byrd.
The Mavericks out-slugged visiting Loudon 10-8 on Saturday.
Loudon took a 3-0 lead in the first but the Mavericks scored a run in the second and exploded for seven runs in the third to lead 8-3.
The visitors responded with a five-run fourth to tie the game at 8-8.
The Mavericks scored a run to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the inning and added an insurance run in the fifth.
Hubbard got the win in relief. He pitched three innings and allowed no runs on one hit with four strikeouts. At the plate he was 2-3 with two doubles, two RBI, and a run scored.
Moog and Elkins were each 2-4 with an RBI while Sexton was 1-2 with two RBI.
Fox was 2-4 with a double and Noe was 1-4 with an RBI.
The Mavericks visit South Doyle at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and McMinn County on Saturday at 1 p.m. They travel to Karns on Monday at 7:30 p.m. and Campbell County on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.