Pioneers fall short in nine-inning marathon
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Taking on the league-leading Cavs in a game which began after a delay of nearly three hours, and required a helicopter to help dry up a soggy Patrick Ramsey Field, sloppy play in the field proved to be Warren County’s downfall as they lost a nine-inning marathon, 9-7.
The game was the second straight extra-inning loss for the (14-10, 5-4 district) Pioneers, who fell 4-3 in eight frames Thursday at Cumberland County.
Tied at 5-5 after the seventh inning, both teams scored single runs in the eighth. But Cookeville’s Brandon Crossman provided the killing blow, belting a two-out, three-run homer over the left-field fence as the clock approached midnight.
The Pioneers plated one run in the bottom of the ninth, but Cavalier reliever Wes Griggs kept the ball in the infield for the final two outs to earn the win.
“It’s tough to lose one like that,” said coach J.W. Holt, whose team was scheduled to conclude its series with the Cavaliers last night. “We got down early, but as the game went on we started doing a little better job at the plate, and we had lots of chances to win this game.”
The Pioneers left 10 men on base during Friday’s game, which ended a few minutes past midnight Saturday morning. They were caught stealing twice, and committed six costly errors.
Colby Killian got the start on the mound for WCHS, and allowed a walk and a single to start the game. He retired Rich Froning on a grounder back to the mound, but Crossman’s ground ball to short went through Tyler Herriman’s legs, allowing Morgan Toline and Grayson Staggs to score. Crossman scored himself, when Tyler Turner followed with a single to right.
The Pioneers countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, with Dylan Stephens driving in Herriman and Jordan Underhill drawing a bases-loaded walk to score Killian.
Another error on a Crossman grounder plated Staggs with Cookeville’s fourth run, but WCHS came back to tie the game in the bottom of the third, when Stephens walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch then Coty Grissom plated Josh Bratcher with a two-out single.
Bo Reeder reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on an Evan Dyer double in the top of the fourth, but the Pioneers knotted the score again when Jordan Powers led off the bottom of the frame with a single and eventually came home on a Killian hit to left.
The Pioneers had a chance to go ahead in the bottom of the sixth, with runners at first and second and just one out. But Griggs, the third pitcher used by Cookeville on the night, got a fly ball from Killian and fanned Todd Gilley on three straight pitches to end the inning.
Turner reached on a fielder’s choice in the Cookeville half of the eighth, and scored from first when Derek Bush’s single up the middle got past Gilley and rolled into deep center field.
Powers drilled a double to right to lead off the bottom of the frame, however, and scored when Jacob Bratcher slapped a single into center field, tying the score at 6-6.
Killian, who threw 136 pitches through the game’s first eight innings, was relieved by Landon Boren in the top of the ninth, and Boren quickly fanned the first two batters he saw. But a two-out walk to Staggs was followed by a Froning single, and Crossman connected on Boren’s 1-1 offering to deliver what would prove to be the game-winning hit.
Stephens singled with one out in the Pioneer ninth, and scored on a grounder from Jordan Underhill, but Grissom grounded to short to end the Pioneers’ final comeback attempt.
Griggs got the win for the Cavaliers, who improved to 15-8 overall and 9-0 in District 7-AAA play. He worked four innings of relief, allowing two runs on six hits while fanning two. Dyer pitched the opening three innings, giving up three hits and walking five while allowing four runs, and Paul Adams gave up a run on three hits in two frames of middle-relief work.
Boren took the loss, while Killian got a no-decision after pitching eight innings of four-hit baseball. He fanned six Cavaliers, while walking four. Only one of the first six Cookeville runs was earned.
At the plate, Josh Bratcher went 4-for-4 with a run and a stolen base, while Powers and Herriman had two hits each.