The Avery 9 and 10 year old boys baseball team lost a narrow contest last Thursday by a final score of 7-6 to a Wilkes County squad to open Little League District Tournament action.Jeffrey Puckett got the starting pitcher nod for the Avery team, and he kept the Wilkes National #2 team’s bats silent through the first two innings. During that time the Avery offense jumped out to a commanding 5-0 advantage, scoring three runs in the second inning and two runs in the top of the third frame.
The bats on the Wilkes club woke up in the bottom of the third inning, rapping four hits to put pressure on the Avery defense. Wilkes batters also were patient at the plate, drawing walks in the inning off both Puckett and southpaw relief pitcher Gabe Stanley for a total output of seven runs to put the Avery team behind by a pair of runs.
Stanley settled down and held Wilkes scoreless for the remainder of the ballgame while Avery managed to manufacture a run in the top of the fifth inning. Puckett belted a triple for his third base hit of the game to lead off the inning. He later scored on a Daniel Hartless single to cut the deficit to 7-6.
In the final inning Avery needed a run or more to avoid defeat. An Avery leadoff hitter ripped a double to start the frame, but was thrown out attempting to stretch the play into a triple for the inning’s first out. Nick Wottell had four hits in the game and a base hit put him on first with two outs representing the tying run. Unfortunately a strikeout by the next batter ended the game to drop Avery into the consolation bracket.
“We just ran out of innings in the game,” Avery coach Adrian Crowe said after the defeat. “We’re hitting the ball really well and that game could have gone either way.”
On Saturday Avery traveled to Happy Valley in Caldwell County for its second district tournament contest and picked up a thrilling 10-9 victory over another of the four Wilkes County teams in the District Tournament.
Brett Smith got the call on the mound to start for the Avery squad and ran into early difficulty. Wilkes jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Smith and his teammates mounted a comeback, scoring two runs in the first frame to cut the lead in half at 4-2. Smith and the Avery defense held Wilkes scoreless in both the second and third innings, and Avery’s bats responded with a run in the bottom of the second and two runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead at 5-4.
In the top of the fourth Wilkes rallied for a pair of runs, but reliever Nick Wottell was able to put out the fire and keep Avery within a run at 6-5. The Avery club continued to hit the baseball, plating three in the bottom of the fourth for the third lead change of the game at 8-6.
Both teams were scoreless in the fifth inning, but Wilkes kept its season alive temporarily with three runs in the sixth before pitcher Rick Daniels shut down the inning. The rally left Avery fighting for its survival with a 9-8 deficit going into its last inning at bat.
In the sixth inning Avery put runners on second and third base for Aaron Dugger. Dugger became slugger as he belted a pitch in the gap in right field, scoring both runners to give Avery the dramatic 10-9 victory.
“Aaron came through with a bit hit for us. The entire team is hitting the ball so well and we’re tickled to see it,” Coach Crowe said after the win. “We’re also really confident with our pitchers and they are doing a great job.”Avery takes on a Caldwell County team at Ashe Park in Jefferson on Tuesday night.
