Avery’s varsity baseball team took its swings at a pair of opponents last week in Western Highlands Conference action. The Vikings traveled to Burnsville on April 8th to take on Mountain Heritage and returned home with a hard-fought 3-1 win. On Thursday the 9th Avery hosted the Owen Warhorses in a nip-and-tuck conference showdown. Owen came from behind with a pair of seventh-inning runs to defeat the Big Red 3-2.Last Wednesday afternoon Avery sent Brooks Oakley to the mound and he did not disappoint. Oakley surrendered only three hits as he struck out 11 Cougars in picking up the complete-game victory.
Avery drew first blood as Chris Childress led the game off with a double, reached third base on a passed ball, and scored on an Adam Pate RBI groundout. In the meantime Oakley was dominant as he allowed only a Kirk Burnette base hit through his first five innings of work.
Oakley was his own best form of insurance in the top of the third inning when he belted a solo home run to stake himself and his team a 2-0 advantage. The Big Red tacked on their third and final run an inning later. Zac Hall led off the frame with a single to left field and was bunted over to second. An RBI single by Jared Clark brought the runner home for a 3-0 lead after four innings.
Mountain Heritage looked to make a comeback in the bottom of the sixth as leadoff hitter Tim Fox reached base on an error and was driven home after a two-out single from Steven Wilson and an RBI double by Zack Howell. Oakley worked out of the jam however, as he induced a groundout from Burnette to quell the Cougars’ strongest scoring threat of the contest.
“Overall we played pretty well, and it started with pitching. Brooks was the typical Brooks that I expect to see on the mound. He went out there and battled, and we were able to score early to give him a little bit of a cushion before he took the mound, which was good to see.” Avery head coach Benny Wellborn said following the win. “We cut down on our strikeouts in the game and put the ball in play. It was about the third game in a row where we played pretty well on both sides of the game. ”We were able to get leadoff batters on and get them around to score, which we hadn’t done a lot of before this game. Heritage is always a tough place for us to win, and this is only the second time in seven years that we’ve came away with a victory.”
Oakley was 2 of 4 at the plate with the home run, Jared Clark was 1 for 2 with an RBI, and third baseman Zac Hall was 2 for 3 in the win.
On Thursday Avery hosted the Owen Warhorses in a rematch of a game won by Owen earlier this season in Swannanoa. The game was another closely fought affair, as again the Vikings managed to carry a slim lead late into the contest.
The contest was a pitcher’s duel from the outset, as Avery southpaw senior starter Chris Childress toed the rubber for the Big Red, while Owen countered with crafty left-hander Thomas Brown.
The Warhorses scored the only run of the game’s first five innings in the top of the third inning when leadoff batter Nigel Lynch doubled to right field, stole third base, and scored on an RBI single by Jonathan Groce to spot Owen the 1-0 advantage.
Avery was unable to break through on Brown through five innings of work, but changed their fortunes with the arrival of right-handed ace Robert Clark. Clark struck out ten Hendersonville Bearcats in a start the previous Friday, and entered the game at Avery to earn a save in relief to start the bottom of the sixth.The pitching change served to revive the Big Red offense, as Oakley reached base with a one-out double. Two batters later Steven Daniels hit a slow roller to third base. Third baseman Brandon Spivey’s throw to first was in the dirt and trickled past the first baseman, which allowed Oakley to scamper home with the game-tying run and Daniels to advance to second base. Pinch-runner Ethan Sluder then scored on a RBI single by Zac Hall to take a 2-1 lead into the top of the final inning.
Pitcher Childress struck out the first hitter he faced in the seventh inning, but surrendered a walk and double to consecutive batters to put runners on second and third base. Owen coach Anthony Lee called for his batter Clark to lay down a squeeze bunt. Childress fielded the bunt and threw home where catcher Steven Daniels tried to block the plate. The umpire called the Warhorse runner safe on the close play, however, as Owen tied the game at 2-2.
The visitors regained the lead at 3-2 when Owen’s next hitter served a bloop single just over the drawn-in infield at first base to score the go-ahead run from third base. Avery manager Benny Wellborn called on Daniel Huff to pitch in relief and induced a pair of groundouts to close the inning.
Avery attempted to bring home a tying run in the bottom of the seventh as Jared Clark worked a leadoff walk. However, the pinch-runner at first base was picked off base for the inning’s first out. The Vikings were then retired in order to end the game.
Childress took the hard-luck loss as he struck out ten Warhorses in 6 1/3 innings on the mound, surrendering three runs on only three hits.
“Our pitching has been absolutely great the past four games. Chris only gave up the three runs and he’s been keeping us in the game, which is all you can ask for out of your pitchers. Both Brooks and Chris have been doing the same great things for us,” Coach Wellborn said following the game. “You’ve got to give Chris credit for battling out there. He deserved to be out there late to get that win, and it was tough for us that we couldn’t do so. We played pretty good defense and got some key hits, but it was one of those games where if a couple of plays go differently, you have an entirely different ballgame.”
Oakley and Hall both continued their hot hitting with two base hits apiece in the contest.
Avery’s non-conference game this past Monday with Cloudland was postponed and rescheduled for later in the week, while the team was also scheduled to travel to North Wilkes for a non-conference tilt.
Full reports on these games can be found on the AJ-T Sports Blog at www.ajtsports.blogspot.com and in next week’s print edition.
