It was senior night in Roan Mountain as the Cloudland Highlanders faced the Hancock County Indians.

The team recognized three seniors before the game, including pitcher/shortstop Josh Stevens, pitcher/third baseman Brayden Christman, and pitcher/third baseman Dillon Johnson. All three would play an essential role in the night’s game.

The Highlanders desperately needed a win against Hancock as they headed into the playoffs. They got it dramatically on Tuesday night as they took hot bats and a defense that bent but did not break to a 15-5 victory in Roan Mountain.

Leading the way for the Highlanders was Johnson who pitched a complete game and ended the night with a one-hit beauty. Johnson recorded nine strikeouts and allowed only one hit and one walk.

While Johnson was getting the job done on the mound, his defense supported him for most of the night. Though they had a few errors, when the game was on the line, they were able to get the job done.

The game started as a close contest. After both teams failed to score in the first inning, they both connected with one run during the second inning.

Hancock got on the board first when Isaac Williams made it to first on a throwing error. He then stole second and third and was brought on home by Hancock’s Brandon Burton to give Hancock a 1-0 lead.

Cloudland came back during the bottom of the inning when Sam Birchfield walked and was brought on home by a single from Jordan Isaacs, tying the score at 1-1.

Hancock scored again during the top of the third inning when Gabe Turner and Javen Delph got on base, and Morgan Anderson brought both of them home with a hard-hit grounder making the score 3-1.

Down 3-1 Cloudland loaded the bases and eventually brought in 5 runs with good base running and effective hitting. Before Hancock could get out of the inning, Cloudland had taken a 6-3 lead.

The fifth inning would see some of the best base running and hitting of the year for the Landers. It started when a pitch hit Cloudland’s Hunter Blair. Then Collin Morgan came up to bat and was walked.

Morgan and Blair then stole second base and third base respectfully, and the stage was set for Cloudland’s Stevens to come to bat. 

Stevens hit a long, deep ball to center and sprinted for the bases. As he came into second, Hancock overthrew the base and Stevens kept running, eventually crossing home plate and recording three RBI’s to blow the game open at 9-4.

Hancock scored one more run during the top of the sixth, but it would be too little too late. Cloudland came to bat in the bottom of the inning and put six more runs on the board. Three of the runs came from Cloudland’s Morgan who crushed a 3-run home run, his third of the year. Brayden Christman walked, stole second and was driven home by Dave Ramey sealing the victory at 15-5.

“This is only the second mercy-rule game we have had since I have coached here,” said Cloudland’ s Coach Cory Rhodes. “This is special for us, especially on Senior Night. These boys really needed this.

“We are trying to build momentum going into the playoffs, and we really needed a win tonight.”

Hancock’s coach Michael Willis took this as a hard loss for his team.

“We went back to some old habits today of making errors and not producing behind the plate. We had two good innings and four scoreless innings, and you can’t win ballgames like that,” said Willis.

“Part of the problem may be our pitcher. He is coming back from knee surgery and is not in the shape that many of these others are. He seemed to get tired around the fourth inning and that cost us.”

Hancock will play again on Thursday night in a Single-A tournament at Lincoln Memorial University. They will take on Pineville Independent School.

Cloudland will play James Frank White Academy at LMU on Friday in a non-conference game.