Cyclones fall to Blue Devils in a nail biter
Published 12:14 pm Tuesday, April 6, 2021
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Cyclone starting pitcher Ashton Wilson (2) fires a warm-up pitch prior to the start of Monday night's game against the Blue Devils of Unicoi County.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Elizabethton second baseman Jaden Anderson (1) draws a bead on a first pitch pop fly ball in shallow right field for the first out of the game.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Unicoi’s Brayden Hendrickson (5) drives back toward the bag as the Cyclone starting pitcher Ashton Wilson (2) fires to first in an attempt to keep Hendrickson close to the base in the first inning. First baseman Noah Rosato (28) awaits the throw.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders With Unicoi’s Travis Whitson (17) flying down the baseline Cyclone first baseman Noah Rosato (28) leaps for a high throw that sail from third baseman Cooper Tipton. Whitson was safe on the play and Tipton was charged with a throwing error.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Elizabethton’s Elijah Birdsong (12) rips a shot into right field, but the Blue Devils Alex Green (5) make a great running catch on the ball for the second out of the bottom of the second.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Elizabethton’s center fielder Cade Russell (5) leaps and make the catch on a fly ball to center that almost got over his head for the final out of the top of the third.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Elizabethton’s Cade Russell (5), after making a great play to end the top of the third, slaps a liner in the gap in left centerfield for a long single to open the bottom of the third.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Elizabethton’s Cade Russell (5), dives back into the bag on a snap throw from Blue Devil catcher Valentin Batrez (20), first baseman Lucas Slagle (23) is late with the tag.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders The Blue Devils Alex Green’s (5) knees buckle as he’s fooled by an Ashton Wilson curve ball for a called third strike ending the top of the fourth.
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BY NIC MILLER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
After a great week of baseball from the Elizabethton Cyclones last week, there was more excitement to be had on the diamond this week starting on Monday night when the Unicoi County Blue Devils would visit Northeast Community Credit Union Ballpark to take on the home town Cyclones.
Coming into the early week contest, both of these two teams were undefeated in terms of conference play, but by the end of the night only one would keep a zero in the loss column.
The Blue Devils struck early as in the top of the first inning, Valentin Batrez would send a stinger down the first base line for an RBI triple to give Unicoi the 1-0 advantage to start things off.
And despite many close calls by both teams in the following few innings, the score would not change again until the top half of the fifth inning when the Blue Devils added one more to their tally with a Lucas Slagle groundout that would bring home a runner from third base, making it a 2-0 ball game midway through five.
But the Cyclones answered back in their half of the inning when a Cade Russell bunt would result in an errant throw through the infield to bring home a runner in the form of Elijah Birdsong to bring things within one score 2-1.
And while they would score the run, the Cyclones would sacrifice two outs as both Ashton Wilson and Russell would be gunned down trying to take home and third respectively.
Just as it had happened to the Devils in the bottom of the fifth, the top of the sixth saw a similar situation for the Cyclones as a Unicoi bunt would result in a wild throw to bring home another run for the Blue Devils. And it didn’t stop there, as another error would bring home another for the visitors, increasing their advantage to 4-1.
Elizabethton bounced back once again in the bottom of the sixth when Zac Workman hit a ground ball that rolled just past the shortstop’s glove, bringing home Bryson Rollins to reduce the deficit to 4-2 heading into the final two frames.
And that would mark the end of scoring for both squads, as a seventh-inning rally for the Cyclones would be halted, leaving the Blue Devils victorious by a score of 4-2.
The Cyclones will be back at home one more time this week taking on the David Crockett Pioneers Friday at 7 p.m.
