Mavs scoring big, making plays

April 6, 2022 by Richard Evans

The Anderson County baseball Mavericks exploded for 30 runs in a double header at Scott Monday night to claim two wins by scores of 15-1 and 15-0.

“Those were two district wins, and it’s good to get out of the gate 2-0 in the district,” said Josh Boynton, head coach of the Mavericks.

In the first game, the Mavs scored five runs in the first inning and added eight in the second before adding two in the third and final inning.

Luke Lankford got the start and the win as he allowed one earned run on no hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

At the plate, Bryson Wolfenbarger was 2-2 with a triple and three RBI, while Luke Lowery was 2-2 with a triple and two RBI. Logan Housewright went 2-3 with a double and three RBI while Thor Williams went 2-2 with an RBI.

In game two, Anderson County won 15-0 in five innings.

Just as they did in the first game of the evening, the Mavs scored five runs in the first inning. They added one run in the second, three in the third and six in the fourth.

Wyatt Cox got the start and the win as he pitched three innings and allowed no runs on one hit with strikeouts. At the plate, he was 2-2 with two RBI.

Williams went 3-4 with a triple and two RBI while Trent Strickland was 1-1 with a double and three RBI. Lowery was 2-3 with a double and an RBI.

Last Tuesday, the Mavs dropped a heartbreaker at Webb by a score of 9-8.

Anderson County scored a run in the first, one in the second, two in the third and three in the fourth to build a 7-0 lead. The Spartans answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth but the Mavs came back with a run in the top of the sixth to take an 8-3 lead.

Unfortunately for Anderson County, Webb scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to escape with the win.

“They just hit it really well,” Boynton said. “It’s unfortunate. We left some opportunities. We had some guys on base and couldn’t get them in.”

Hayden Hartgrove took the loss. He pitched three innings and allowed six earned runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and two walks. At the plate, he was 2-5 with a double and an RBI.

Lowery was 1-4 with a triple and two RBI while Housewright was 1-3 with a double and two RBI. Williams was 1-1 with an RBI while Hudson Hartgrove and Aydin Bond each had a hit.

On Thursday, the Mavs opened the Clinch River Classic with an in-school 16-5 win over visiting Cocke County.

The Mavs scored a run in the first when Lowery was hit by a pitch and then stole second. Hudson Hartgrove and Williams were also hit by pitches to load the bases. Wolfenbarger then hit a sac fly to center to score Lowery.

In the bottom of the second, Anderson County scored seven runs. Eli Davis led off with a walk and stole second. He scored on a base hit by Cox. Bond then singled to move Cox to second.

Hayden Hartgrove then singled to load the bases. Lowery then doubled to score Cox. A wild pitch scored Bond and moved runners to second and third. Williams was hit by a pitch.

A wild pitch scored the runner from third and Williams moved to second. Wolfenbarger then drew a walk and both base runners scored when Housewright singled and the left fielder bobbled the ball.

After Cocke County scored two in the top of the inning, the Mavs scored seven more runs in the bottom of the third. Lowery led off with a triple and then scored when Hudson Hartgrove homered to left. Williams then reached on a ground-rule double to center. Wolfenbarger and Housewright each walked to load the bases. Davis was hit by a pitch to score Williams. Cox then grounded out to first to score Wolfenbarger. Bond then singled in Housewright and Davis. On the throw home, Bond went to second. A wild pitch moved him to third. Hayden Hartgrove then hit a sac fly to right to score Bond.

Cocke County scored a run in the top of the fourth to wrap up scoring for the day.

“There wasn’t much going wrong [for the Mavs],” Boynton said. “It was an exciting atmosphere for the kids to play in front of the students. They were having fun with it. We got up on them early and really didn’t miss a beat.”

Cox got the start and the win. He pitched three innings and allowed two earned runs with five strikeouts and one walk. At the plate he was 1-3 with two RBI.

Hudson Hartgrove was 1-2 with a home run and two RBI. Lowery was 3-3 with a double, a triple, and two RBI. while Bond was 2-2 with two RBI.

Anderson County beat Northview Academy 9-7 Friday in the second game of the Clinch River Classic.

Northview scored a run in each of the first two innings. The Mavs answered with a run in the bottom of the second to make it a 2-1 game. Northview scored two runs in the top of the fourth to go up 4-1. The Mavs scored eight runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 9-4 lead.

The Cougars scored a run in each of the last three innings but it wasn’t enough.

“It was just timely hitting in the fourth; we had some big hits that inning,” Boynton said.

On Saturday, Anderson County beat Union County 14-12.

The Patriots took a 1-0 lead in the first and added three in the third to take a 4-0 lead.

The Mavs scored three in the bottom of the third and tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth.

The Patriots scored twice in the top of the fifth and two more in the top of the sixth to go ahead 8-4.

The Mavs bats warmed up in the early afternoon as they plated 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 14-8 lead. Though it appeared Anderson County sealed the win with the big inning, Union County had other ideas as it scored four runs in the seventh, falling just short of a game-tying rally.

“Our guys keep fighting, but it can be stressful on a coach,” Boynton said.

Lankford got the win in relief. He pitched one inning and allowed two earned runs on one hit with one strikeout and two walks.

Hayden Hartgrove went 3-5 with two doubles and three RBI. Lowery was 3-5 with a double and two RBI. Williams was 2-5 with three RBI. Wolfenbarger was 2-2 and Housewright was 2-3 with a double. Hudson Hartgrove and Bond each had a hit and an RBI.

In their second game of the day, the final game of the 2022 Clinch River Classic, the Mavs beat Cherokee 4-3.

Anderson County took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but Cherokee scored twice in the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead. The team added a run in the fourth to push the lead to 3-1. The Mavs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-3 lead and hold on for the win.

Bond got the complete-game win. He pitched all seven innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. At the plate, Bond was 1-3 with RBI.

“Bond throwing a complete game was big for us,” Boynton said. “Being the fourth game of the tournament, we were kind of low on arms.”

Housewright was 2-3 with a double, while Lane Fletcher was 1-2 with a double. Hudson Hartgrove was 1-3 with a double, and Wolfenbarger had an RBI.

The Mavericks visit Maryville at 5 p.m. Thursday and play Sweetwater at 7:15 p.m. Friday, they travel to Heritage to play William Blount at 5 p.m. Saturday, they come home to face Heritage at 10 a.m.

The Mavs will host Halls Monday at 5:30 p.m. and visit Halls on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.