The Avery Vikings varsity baseball team used a strong inning to open a lead on visiting Thomas Jefferson Academy. The Gryphons rallied in the top of the sixth to cut the Avery lead to 7-6.Avery starting pitcher Daniel Huff retired TJCA with the tying run on base to preserve a one-run margin. In the bottom of the inning, catcher Steven Daniels helped out his battery mate by belting a towering two-run home run to left center field to give the Big Red a 9-6 lead.
"Steven hitting the ball deep to give us those pair of insurance runs was big for us," Avery head baseball coach Benny Wellborn said after the game. "We hoped to close the game out a little earlier, but our kids kept battling hard and got the win."
The Avery defense shut the door in the top of the seventh to capture the three-run win.
Huff picked up the win in a 100-pitch, complete game effort. "That's probably Daniel's best pitching performance of the year. Getting seven innings from him can do nothing but help us," Avery head baseball coach Benny Wellborn said. "The kid battled hard the whole game and deserved to be out there to finish it."
Offensively, Daniels was 2 for 4 with three RBI, Danny Cole with 2 for 3 with three runs scored, while Luke Pittman was 2 for 3 with a pair of runs batted in.
In junior varsity action, the Avery club fell by a 9-1 score to Thomas Jefferson in an abbreviated contest called after three innings due to darkness.
TJCA took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Avery rallied for a run in the bottom half as Dustin Clark reached on an error and maneuvered around the bases to score what proved to be the Vikings’ lone run for the game.
The Gryphons used a big four-run inning in the top of the second to put the game out of reach. Avery put multiple runners on base in both the second and third innings, but they were left stranded as the Vikings were unable to put key hits together to narrow the margin.
“We did a lot of things single-handedly to beat ourselves against Thomas Jefferson,” junior varsity head coach Samuel Phillips said after the game. “Thomas Jefferson used quite a few of their varsity players at the junior varsity level, which is different from playing JVs all the time. The thing with our kids is if we can get them to believe they are as good a team as I believe they are capable of being, we can be a better team the rest of this season and in the future.”
On Friday afternoon, Avery hosted its second consecutive 1A conference foe, as the Hendersonville Bearcats rolled into town.
The Bearcats picked up a pair of runs off Avery starter Jared Clark for an early lead, while the Vikings were unable to get the offensive momentum going through the first two stanzas.
Hendersonville added a third run in the top of the third to build a three-run bulge, but the Vikings pushed across all four of its runs for the game in the bottom of the frame to take its first lead at 4-3.
Danny Cole started things with a walk, followed by a
double by Ethan Sluder and a triple from Daniel Huff. A solo home run from Clark served as the go-ahead run.Clark buckled down on the mound, holding the Bearcats scoreless in both the fourth and fifth innings to preserve the slim lead. Avery was unable to add to its lead during those innings, which proved costly.
In the sixth inning, Clark was unable to throw his breaking ball for strikes as he had so effectively done in the earlier stages of the contest. The Bearcats seized the opportunity and scored five runs in the inning off Clark and the Avery bullpen.
The Bearcats bullpen closed the door on Avery and escaped Newland with the hard fought win.
“We battled back after they scored early and had a big inning. In the sixth I think Jared got a little tired and maybe I should have pulled him, but his breaking pitches were working so well I wanted to leave him in as long as I could,” head coach Benny Wellborn said after the game.
“The good news is I don’t think made many errors which has been killing us lately. It was just a matter of them catching fire at the right time and us doing so at the wrong time. I thought our guys played well enough to win, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Clark gave up only five hits in his five innings of work and struck out six hitters. Connor Cope picked up the win in relief for the Bearcats.
In the junior varsity contest, Avery and Hendersonville played a tight game. Hendersonville led 8-7 and the game was called after four innings due to darkness.
Both teams were scoreless in the first frame, but the Bearcats scored a pair in the top of the second to break the ice.
The Avery offense exploded for six runs in the top of the second to seize a 6-2 lead. The Big Red batted around, highlighted by a two-run double by Dylan Nelson.
The Bearcats quickly bounced back, using three consecutive doubles to pick up four runs and tie the contest. Alex Barker walked and scored on a Bennett Sweat single in the bottom of the inning to regain a 7-6 lead.
In its final at bat, Hendersonville had timely hitting and also took advantage of two Avery errors in the inning to score twice. Avery was held without a tally in the bottom of the inning to provide for the final margin.
The top three batters in the Avery lineup were the only players to garner hits for the game, with Sweat’s two hits leading the way. Dylan Nelson pitched a complete game effort.
“I’m pleased with the effort. The kids battled hard against a Hendersonville team that is traditionally good. It just seems like it’s one big inning that keeps getting us” JV head coach Samuel Phillips said after the game. “The top of our lineup has been producing lately. If we can get the bottom half of the lineup to be as effective as our top half, we’ll be able to get some things going.”
The Vikings took the diamond against conference foe Polk this past Tuesday and will host Madison this Friday.
