Carson-Newman gets blitzed in 13-1 loss to Young Harris
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In their worst loss since a 17-2 loss to Wingate on April 21, 2012, the Carson-Newman Eagles (12-12) fell 13-1 in seven innings to the Young Harris Mountain Lions (11-13) Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 0 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In their worst loss since a 17-2 loss to Wingate on April 21, 2012, the Carson-Newman Eagles (12-12) fell 13-1 in seven innings to the Young Harris Mountain Lions (11-13) Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"We felt pretty good going into it," head coach Tom Griffin said. "I had a great talk with Mr. Ken Sparks today. It comes down to these are great challenges. It's about faith. I know we are going to be fine."
The visiting club surged out of the gates plating two runs in the first inning. With one out, catcher Spencer Thomas doubled to the gap in right-center field. The next batter, designated hitter Jack Morrow, dribbled a single into left field to make it 1-0. After a strikeout, Eagle starter Clayton Eames (Hoschton, Ga.) gave up a bouncing single into center field by second basemen Adam Moore giving Young Harris a 2-0 advantage before Carson-Newman came to the plate.
In the third inning, Young Harris doubled its lead. Thomas led off with a single to left field. Junior shortstop Bryan Everhart (Greeneville, Tenn.) committed an error on what could have been a double play ball. After a sacrifice bunt and a walk, Moore grounded a single through the hole and into left field to score Thomas. First basemen Dom Wyshinski drove a ball to straightaway center to bring home the Mountain Lions' fourth run.
The onslaught continued in the fourth inning. A fielder's choice allowed a run to score and make it a 5-0 ball game. Shortstop Tom Valichka pulled a double inside the third base bag to bring home another run. Moore grounded out to Everhart and the Mountain Lions had a 7-0 edge.
Valichka extended the Young Harris lead in the top of the sixth inning with his second long ball of the season, a two-run shot, over the left field wall to make it a 9-0 contest.
Young Harris put up another crooked number in the seventh inning when they plated four runs capped by an RBI single by pinch-hitter Brett Westmoreland.
The Eagles prevented a shutout in the seventh inning when sophomore first basemen Shade Jett (Talbott, Tenn.) singled with one out. Everhart brought him home on a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center field to bring home Jett.
Eames took the loss for the third straight start after allowing a career-high six runs, five earned and a career-high eight hits in 3.1 innings.
Thomas went 5-for-5 with three doubles and five runs scored as the top three men in the Mountain Lions lineup scored ten of the team's 13 runs.
"We have to weather a storm right now," Griffin said of a recent skid. "It's a mental storm. It's not fundamental. It's not physical. We have to work through that. We spent time with our players today talking about the mental side."
The Eagles are back in action Wednesday afternoon when the Maryville Scots come to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex for a 2 p.m. first pitch. A free, high definition video stream will be available by visiting cneagles.com/live.
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