Epic comeback for Hawks falls short against North
You win some, you lose some.
That was the clear message driven home in back-to-back games for Clinton Middle Hawks baseball against district rival North Middle School last Thursday and Friday.
On Thursday night, the Hawks traveled to Lenoir City to face North for the third time this season, with the Hawks leading the season series 2-0. A walk-off left the Hawks on the wrong end of a 7-6 score, after an epic comeback that intitially led the teams to extra innings.
After the Hawks scored one run in the top of the second with an RBI single from eighth-grader Ben Tackett, the North Stars answered with one of their own. The North bats stayed alive on ace righthander Aden Golden, who ended up allowing seven runs on four hits, striking out eight and walking one. Hawk errors came into play throughout, allowing extra runs.
Trailing by five in the top of the fifth inning, the Hawks came alive, tying the game up at 6.
Seventh-grader Erick Tirado led off the inning, reaching first on an error. Eighth-grader Brayden Gavin drew a walk to get two on base. Then, the bats went off. Eighth-grader JP Robbins scored two on a bobbled outfield fly, eighth-grader Brennan Tipton followed with a walk, eighth-grader Reed White scored an RBI with a groundout, then eighth-grader Aden Golden smacked an RBI double to left field, making the score 6-5 North with two outs. Two wild pitches tied it up, putting Aden Golden across home plate on two consecutive steals.
Ultimately, the Hawks ran out of gas in the extra inning, and the game ended in a walk-off walk and a Hawk loss, 7-6.
On Friday night, it was payback time. North traveled to Clinton for a rematch, with the Hawks taking the win 8-7 in dramatic walk-off fashion. The game was tied at seven each in the bottom of the fifth inning when eighth-grader Jaxon Young pounded a grounder to second base that could not be handled by the North Middle infield. An error put eighth-grader Brayden Gavin across the plate for the win.
Jaxon Young also got the win on the mound, allowing seven runs on three hits, striking out two and walking one over four and two-thirds innings.
Down three in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Hawks rallied to take over and secure the victory. In all, Hawk hitters racked up eight hits for the night, led by eighth-graders Ben Tackett and Jaxon Young with two hits each.
Head Coach Jake Lowe, in his first season at the helm, credited team camaraderie with the huge district win.
“The boys have grown as a whole team,” he said. “This team has come to trust each other.”
The Hawks (4-4, 3-3) were to end the season with home games against district rival Norris Middle at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Hawks will host Oliver Springs at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 20.