Blake Lowe no-nos Scott
Clinton junior Eli Ellis gets his money’s worth on this swing against Karns last week- end. (photo:Richard Evans )
Lowe opened the game by striking out the side, and repeated the feat in the second inning. As dominant as Lowe was on the mound — he finished the game with 13 strikeouts over the course of the five innings played — the offense was perhaps equally as dominant.
“We had a tough game against Coach [Tony] Kegley Saturday and we were really complacent with where we’re at,” said Rob Stacy, head coach of the Dragons.
“And we kind of had a talk after the game. Sunday we had a little more talk. Really, we just took the approach that we’re going to hit the ball up the middle. We’re not going to try to kill the baseball.
“We just executed tonight. I don’t discredit Scott at all. I think the long bus ride and getting here kind of late kind of put them in a tough place,” he said.
The Dragons scored nine runs in the first inning, sending 15 batters to the plate. They tacked on seven runs in the second as 10 batters went to the plate, to go up 16-0. The 15-run after three innings mercy rule was suspended and the two teams played five innings. The Dragon added a run in the fourth as head coach Rob Stacy made numerous substitutions.
Lowe got the win and pitched all five innings - the last two innings in the rain - to get the win. He allowed no runs, no hits, and struck out 13 and walked one. He was also 3-4 with three RBI at the plate.
Connor Moody was 2-3 with two RBI and Isaiah Slaven was 2-2. Ethan Tinker was 1-2 with three RBI. Eli Ellis, Harrison Shelton, and Sam Raley also had hits.
The Dragons scored all of their runs without the benefit of an extra-base hit.
The Dragons opened play last week at Karns as they kicked off the East Tennessee Coaches Association Tournament.
Clinton lost 6-1 to host Karns.
The Beavers scored two in the first and two more in the third. Slaven doubled to score Ellis in the sixth but Karns added two runs in the bottom of the inning.
“They’re [Karns] a good team. They’re really well coached. They do all the little things right. They’re the team we’re trying to be. We executed really well defensively and really well on the mound. Where we didn’t play well was guarding bunt coverage - something we worked on two days in a row, so I was pretty upset about that,” Stacy said.
“They threw a pretty good arm against us and that’s what we’ve been seeing. We’re getting a team’s one and I’m okay with that. It makes me excited to go into district play,” he said.
Alex Gaetz took the loss as he pitched six innings and allowed four earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
Garrett Lee had a double while Shelton and Reece Wilkerson added hits as well.
The Dragons also played a very good Pigeon Forge team on Thursday and fell 12-0 in five innings.
The Tigers scored four in the first and added a run in the third before scoring six in the fourth.
“They’re the number one AA team in the state. I want our guys to see those teams. If we want to put ourselves to be like that team, we’ve got to play guys like that,” Stacy said.
“We executed really well playing our style, it’s just they have a little more pop right now,” Stacy said.
Ellis took the loss. He pitched three innings and allowed eight earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and four walks.
Slaven went 2-2 and Lowe went 1-1 to account for the Clinton offense.
On Friday, the Dragons lost at Heritage by a score of 11-1.
Clinton scored a run in the first to take the lead but the Mountaineers scored twice in the bottom of the inning to take the 2-1 lead. They added six in the second inning and never looked back.
“We just didn’t show up. I think the elements kind of got to us mentally,” Stacy said.
Tinker took the loss. He went two innings and allowed seven earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and four walks.
Ellis had the only hit for the Dragons. He also had an RBI.
The Dragons came home Saturday morning and wrapped up play in the ETBCA Tournament with a 7-6 win over Oliver Springs.
The Bobcats took a 3-0 lead before the Dragons scored in the bottom of the fourth to make 3-1. Oliver Springs then scored a run in the fifth, sixth, and seventh to go up 6-1.
The Dragons scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game and force extra innings. They scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to win in walk-off style.
“They [Oliver Springs] put the ball in play and put a lot of pressure on us. We beat them 16-1 earlier in the year and our guys came out flat and it was cold. We’re trying to work on our mental toughness but give Coach Kegley credit. They put the ball in play. They executed the small ball exceptionally well. It took us six innings to figure out if a guy is throwing a lot of off speed stuff we need to drive the ball the other way,” said Stacy.
Freshman Dallas Beets pitched all eight innings and got the win. He allowed five earned runs on 15 hits with six strikeouts and one walk.
Tinker, Moody, Lowe, and Wilkerson each had a hit and an RBI. Ellis, Slaven, and Lee each had an RBI as well.
The Dragons host Scott Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and will play Grainger at Morristown West on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. They will then play Morristown West at 3:30 p.m. Clinton will visit Halls on Monday at 5:30 p.m.