MELTDOWN: Pioneers give up 11 runs in 6th
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Clinging to a 1-0 lead going into the sixth, Warren County (10-12, 4-4 district) allowed six hits and committed five errors in the frame, as Blackman sent 16 men to the plate and scored 11 runs on their way to an 11-1 victory.
David Price of the Blaze led off with a fly ball that was dropped in left, and a walk to Will Bowman then an error at third loaded the bases for Ryan Cole, who singled home Price. Kevin Prater drew a bases-loaded walk to give Blackman the lead, and the floodgates opened from there, as a two-run single from Corey Cave made it a 4-1 game before the Pioneers recorded an out.
Michael House, Marcus Barnes, Price, Bowman and Cole all came around to score as the inning wore on, before relief pitcher Jared Qualls struck out Frankie Beech looking to mercifully end the inning.
Price, Blackman’s ace pitcher, came on to work the seventh, and allowed a leadoff walk to Josh Bratcher before fanning Joey Haston, Nick Cantrell and Steven Ehrhardt to end the game.
The Pioneers’ lone run came in the fourth, when Bratcher, who was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on an error by Blackman starting pitcher House, took third on a wild pitch then scored on Cantrell’s single down the left-field line.
Landon Boren worked the first five innings, and pitched to six batters in the sixth before Qualls came on in relief. Boren allowed six runs (three earned) on five hits, and walked three while fanning two. Two of the five runs credited to Qualls were earned. He allowed four hits and a walk, and struck out one batter.
House took the win for Blackman, pitching the game’s first six innings.
• Friday night in Murfreesboro, a strong pitching performance from Gilley and a pair of costly defensive gaffes from the Blaze helped the Pioneers make short work of their hosts on the way to a 4-1 win.
In a game that took less than 1-1/2 hours to complete, Gilley went the distance, allowing seven hits and just one run — a solo homer to left from Blaze third baseman Will Bowman in the first inning. The junior lefty fanned two batters, walked none, and hit one on his way to his second victory — in as many nights.
Trailing 1-0 after Bowman’s homer, the Pioneers answered with all four of their runs in the top of the third.
Nick Cantrell led off the frame with a single to center field, and moved to second on Steven Ehrhardt’s sacrifice bunt.
Chase McGee reached on a throwing error from Bowman, and Cantrell came in with the tying run on the play. McGee then motored all the way around to score when Tyler Herriman’s line single to right went through the legs of Blackman’s Marcus Barnes. Herriman made it to third on the play, and scored on an RBI single from Jacob Bratcher to give WCHS a 3-0 lead. Bratcher scored on a single to center from Colby Killian for the game’s final run.
The Pioneers played error-free baseball Friday night, and turned in several run-saving plays in the field, including in the second inning, when Killian gunned down Cody Taylor at the plate while he was attempting to score on a Frankie Beech two-out single.
Taylor’s greed on the base paths caught up to him again in the fifth, when he tried to go from second to third on a grounder to Herriman at short. Dylan Stephens fielded Herriman’s throw, however, and gunned down Taylor at third for the second out of the inning.
Offensively, Herriman, Bratcher, Killian, Joey Haston and Cantrell had the Pioneers’ hits. Justin McDaniels took the loss on the mound for the Blaze in a complete-game performance.
WCHS Baseball
Pioneers (Fri.) 4
Blackman 1
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Blackman (Sat.) 11
Pioneers 1