Cloudland mistakes prove costly against Unaka
Published 9:01 am Monday, May 6, 2019
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde #8 David Ensor of Unaka slides into home for the score for an infield home run!
Stat Photo/Brandon Hyde Bryson Street of Unaka attempts an out as Collin Morgan of Cloudland is safe for a single.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde #1 Reid Taylor of Unaka slides into third after hitting a triple.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Mickey Webb of Cloudland steals hom.e after a sacrifice out at second from Bray Christman.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde #20 Dave Ramey of Cloudland fields a single from #3 Slagle of Unaka as #4 Nolan Bradley of Unaka scores an RBI.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Josh Stevens of Cloudland jumps in an attempt to tag out Devin Ramsey of Unaka
BY AUSTIN ALEXANDER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
JONESBOROUGH—Tournament action kicked off in District 1-A on Thursday night. The first matchup featured a win or go home game pitting Unaka and Cloudland against each other.
Their reward-a date with Sullivan North on Saturday.
The game finished early in the 5th inning after Unaka took the mercy-rule contest 13-3.
The first inning saw Unaka pitcher John Ramsey striking out the first three batters of the game going three up and three down.
Dillon Johnson got the starting nod for the Highlanders on the mound.
Unaka, however, came out swinging. Second baseman Devin Ramsey kicked the inning off with a groundball single into left field.
After a Reid Taylor sacrifice bunt, John Ramsey was hit by a pitch putting runners on the corners for Unaka.
Bryson Street came to the plate and whacked a hard groundball past the first baseman scoring both runs.
Two batters later, Davy Ensor stepped up with two outs and belted a deep fly ball into left for an inside-the-park home run. The score stood at 4-0 after the first inning.
John Ramsey continued his dominance on the mound finishing off the top half of the second inning facing just four batters.
In the bottom of the second, two mistakes by the Highlanders meant two more runs for the Rangers and they held a 6-0 lead at the end of two complete.
Unaka turned to Daniel Shearl in the top of the third inning relieving Ramsey. Shearl walked the first two batters before an error on a Collin Morgan grounder scored Dave Ramey putting the Highlanders on the board.
After hitting a batter and walking another, Unaka put the ball back into the hands of John Ramsey on the hill. The bases were loaded for Bray Christman who laced a single into left scoring a runner.
Ramsey was able to bounce back and retire the next two batters keeping the damage at just two runs for the inning.
A Daniel Ensor seeing-eye single got things rolling for the Rangers in the bottom of the third. After a Nick Nunley single moved the runner to third, Nolan Bradley offered a sacrifice fly scoring a run. The inning would end 8-2 in favor of Unaka.
The Rangers pitching and defense kept the score the same during the top half of the fourth inning.
Reid Taylor kicked off the bottom of the fourth inning for the Rangers when he hit a deep fly ball into left for a triple. He was followed by Bryson Street who matched the triple with one of his own making the score 9-2.
Joe Slagle would take over pitching duties for Unaka in the top of the fifth inning. Dylan Johnson led off the frame for Cloudland with a single down the third base line. Christman moved the runner to third following an errant throw.
Christman tried to steal second base allowing Johnson to come home to record the third run for the Highlanders. That was all that Cloudland would produce offensively.
The first three batters of the inning all reached base for the Rangers in the bottom of the fifth loading the bases for Shearl who grounded a ball through the infield scoring two runs.
Despite a pitching change from Cloudland, Unaka was just too much scoring two more and forcing the mercy rule into play.
Next for the Rangers is a matchup with Sullivan North.
For Cloudland, it means the end of an eventful season. “You never want to go out like that,” said Cloudland head coach Cory Rhodes
Rhodes also spoke to the will of his team and how their never say die attitude was present even in the final moments, “I’m proud of the guys and the way they fought all year. They grinded today and they didn’t give up.”
