Baseball drops two at Classic: WCHS falls to Sequatchie Co., Baylor
The friendly confines of home haven’t been so friendly to the Pioneer baseball team this weekend.
Warren County suffered a pair of losses in the first two games of its own Dr Pepper Classic, the latest an 11-2 loss Saturday morning to Chattanooga Baylor.
“We played a little better today,” said WCHS coach Jimmy Walker, whose squad dropped an 8-7 decision Friday afternoon against Sequatchie County. “The score’s not really evidence of it, but the defense did a better job than they had been doing. If you take away some walks and a home run, we did all right.”
Baylor put Saturday’s game out of reach in the fifth inning, scoring seven runs while sending 10 batters to the plate.
WCHS starter Nicholas Robinson, who was aggravated for much of the game by a blister on his throwing hand, was relieved by Colby Jenkins after giving up a leadoff walk. Jenkins retired the first batter he faced, but gave up an RBI-single to Kane Simmons before the Red Raiders’ Scott Rains slammed a two-run homer to right, putting Baylor on top 7-2.
Tommy Jones came on after Jenkins surrendered another single, but walked a pair of batters before giving up a three-run blast to Baylor’s No. 9 hitter, Britton Stansel.
“Those guys can swing the bats,” Walker said of the Red Raiders, who combined for nine hits in the contest. “They hit as well as any team I’ve seen this year, and that big inning just goes to show you can’t give up walks in front of guys who can hit the baseball.”
Baylor got on the board with a pair of unearned runs in the first, scoring on two hits and two Pioneer errors. The Red Raiders plated two more in the third, when Simmons launched a two-run homer to right.
Warren County cut its deficit in half in the fourth, however. Glenn Rogers led off the frame with a double, and scored from second when Baylor’s right fielder threw away the ball on a Joey Haston sacrifice fly.
Jake Mitchell, who was hit by a pitch, scored the Pioneers’ only other run on a groundout by Zach Pelham later in the inning.
The Pioneers managed just two hits against Baylor starter Zain Stone, who worked the first for innings to pick up the win.
Robinson took the loss for the Pioneers, allowing five hits and five runs (three earned) over four innings of work. The senior balanced two walks against four strikeouts.
Jenkins gave up three runs on three hits, working just a third of an inning, and Jones pitched the final 2/3 of the fifth, giving up three earned runs on a hit and two walks.
Sequatchie Co. 8,
Warren Co. 7
Friday afternoon’s game started off on the right foot for the Pioneers, who took a 5-0 lead early.
Back-to-back doubles from Daniel Owens and Haston helped spark a three-run first, and Derek Kennamer belted a two-run homer — his second of the year — in the second inning.
But Sequatchie County took advantage of what has proven to be the Pioneers’ biggest Achilles heel — shaky defense — to score four runs in the third and three more in the fourth to tie the game at 7-7.
Jesse Price walked and scored in the fifth, giving the Indians an 8-7 lead, but the Pioneers loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning with nobody out, and — with the time limit running out — looked to be in position to tie or win the contest.
But the Indians’ Charlie Hatfield fanned Owens for the first out of the inning, then Kennamer was picked off between third and home on a missed squeeze play attempt with Haston at the plate. Haston grounded out to shortstop for the final out of the game.
The (5-6) Pioneers conclude the Classic today, with a game against Shelbyville at 1:30 p.m. followed by a matchup with Cumberland County at 4 p.m.