Pioneer baseball snuffs out Blaze – Rogers K?s six in Game 1 win
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The game was the first of a two-game series with the Blaze, however Wednesday?s contest was postponed by rain, and was slated to be played Thursday night.
The Pioneers? game against Sequatchie County, which was originally set for Thursday afternoon, will now tentatively be played on Sunday afternoon at WCHS. Coffee County and Sequatchie County, which were also scheduled to play Thursday at Ramsey Field, moved their game to Manchester.
Senior Derrin Rogers went the distance Tuesday, pitching the Pioneers to victory with a six-hitter, fanning six Blaze batters. The loss went to Blackman?s Robbie Cooper.
At the plate, Clint Newman went 2-for-3 for WCHS, driving home a pair of runs, while Zack Fisher was 2-for-2. Kyle Mullican had a pair of RBIs of his own, while Lane McCoy drove home his team?s first run with a one-out single in the third.
That hit scored Chase Basham, who had been hit by a pitch to break up what had been a perfect outing by Cooper. Fisher followed with a walk, and McCoy came through with a hit. Mullican?s hard grounder to third was misplayed by Blackman?s Ryan Cole, allowing Fisher to score, and McCoy came home on a double steal when Mullican took second base.
Newman followed with a single up the middle, allowing Mullican to come home from third and giving WCHS an early 4-1 lead.
Blackman had taken an early advantage in the top of the second, when Tyler Brewer led off with a single and scored on a Mitch Cox ground ball.
In the fifth, Fisher singled to get things going, and McCoy?s attempt at a sacrifice bunt was thrown away by Cole, allowing Fisher to move all the way to third, where he scored on a Mullican double. Newman followed with a double of his own, plating both McCoy and Mullican as WCHS took a 7-1 lead.
In the top of the sixth, Justin Bowers struck for what would prove to be the final run of the game, belting a one-out offering from Rogers over the center-field wall for a solo home run. Rogers got in a bit of a jam following the solo shot, giving up a single to Dylan Meyers and another to Julius Fain which loaded the bases, but he fanned Blackman?s Frankie Beech to end the threat then got through the seventh on a pair of fly-ball outs and a grounder to second baseman Casey Talbert.
With the win, WCHS improved to 7-14 overall and 3-4 in league play. Blackman dropped to 13-11-1, and was also 3-4 entering Thursday night?s game.
The Pioneers are slated to face Rhea County today at 1 p.m. in the opening game of the Dr Pepper Wood Bat Classic.