Braves charge to rain-soaked win over Bulldogs
Published 3:37 pm Thursday, June 25, 2020
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StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Bulldog first baseman Dalton Rouse (17) keeps his foot on the bag while grabbing the high throw from second baseman Conner Jones (4) to complete the out on the Braves Brady Aldrich (11) in the top of the fourth.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
The Bulldogs Landon Street (10) gets in under the tag of the Braves second baseman with a stolen base in the bottom of the fourth inning.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Bulldog catcher Morgan Lyons (14) comes up and fires down the third base line, but is a little late as the Braves Miles Bemberg (5) slides in just under the tag in the top of the fourth.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
After collecting a walk the Braves Conner Horton (14) took off for second on the first pitch to the next batter. Hampton shortstop Josh Whitson (7) leaps for the high throw and came down late. However, Horton over slid the bag and Whitson was able to dive back and apply the tag for the out in the top of the third.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
After collecting a walk the Braves Conner Horton (14) took off for second on the first pitch to the next batter. The throw was high but Horton over slid the bag and Hampton shortstop Josh Whitson (7) is able to dive back and apply the tag for the out in the top of the third.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Hampton’s Collin Morgan (13) fires an early first-inning strike to Zack Key (14) of the Johnson City Braves.
BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN
STAR CORRESPONDENT
The rain came fast and hard in the opening innings of the contest between University High 2 and Hampton in the Northeast Tennessee High School Baseball League played at Cardinal Park on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs (0-4) got off to a slow start while UH took advantage of the conditions to put up five early runs and hung on for a 9-5 victory. Back to back triples by leadoff hitter Zack Zuelke and Connor Horton plated one run and a ground ball off the bat of Joseph Kent plated Horton for a 2-0 lead.
Will Stevens singled with one away and stole both second and third and came around on a ground out from Brady Alrich for a 3-0 first-inning advantage.
Zuel Key took the hill for the Braves and he pitched well over his five frames of work. Key gave up just two runs on four hits while striking out nine.
“I came out feeling good and worked on throwing strikes and letting my defense play behind me,” Key said. “We just kept our heads and played despite the conditions. We are thankful to be playing and we just want to continue to play solid.”
The Braves touched Bulldogs starter Collin Morgan for two more runs in the second as the rain whipped the ballpark forcing fans to shelter. Mason Tucker walked and went to second on a wild pitch.
He then stole third and came home on a throwing error. Daniel Seehorn singled and scored on a triple from Blake Hawkins for a 5-0 Braves lead.
The rain subsided by the third inning and Morgan pitched through the fourth frame giving up seven runs (three earned) on seven hits striking out two and walking three before giving way to Josh Whitson in the fifth.
A pair of errors aided the Braves in the top of the fourth with J.T. Siphous plating two runs with a single to stake UH to a seven-run lead.
Hampton struck back in the last of the frame with two runs as Austin Miller singled and Morgan Lyons drove him in with an infield single. Morgan drove home Lyons with a single to make it a 7-2 game.
In the bottom of the sixth, the ‘Dogs tallied three runs to close to within 7-5 with Dalton Rouse’s two-out triple to center plating two of those runs. Morgan then brought Rouse home with his second RBI hit of the game.
“We are getting back into the groove of things,” Rouse said. “We are one of the smallest schools in this league but we are trying to compete the best we can.”
An outfield error allowed two Braves runners to score in the seventh on a single by Zuelke who finished three-for-four with two triples and two RBI.
Next up for the Bulldogs is a clash with the Raiders on Wednesday at Northeast Community Credit Union ballpark at Joe O’Brien Field.
“It’s been a rough road to start off here,” Bulldogs manager Andrew Smith said. “It was good to see us rally and come back. I’m proud of these guys and we made them work for all 21 outs. There is no quit in this team.”
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University High 2 9-5
UH 2 320 200 2 – 9 11 0
Hampton 000 203 0 – 5 7 3
W – Key L – Morgan
