Vikings Diamond Notes

The Avery varsity softball team took on two of the tougher foes in the Western Highlands Conference when it hosted the Polk County Lady Wolverines last Thursday and Madison last Friday afternoon. Avery fell 11-0 to the Lady Wolverines and 23-0 in Friday’s contest with the visiting Lady Patriots.

In Thursday’s contest, Polk County used the strategy of bunting with the top of its lineup to force the Lady Vikings into hurried defensive plays. The Big Red was successful at times at keeping runners off the base paths, but the Wolverines still managed four first inning runs.

Avery struggled to put the bat on the ball as Polk starter Jamie Hrobak was effective with a variety of pitches. The Polk offense charged up over the next two innings to score six runs, while the Lady Vikings were unable to mount an offensive answer and rally. The Lady Wolverines added only one run total in the final two innings, but managed to take the win in five innings via the ten-run mercy rule.

“Polk is a tough team. We played better against them than we did in our first meeting, but they are disciplined hitters and base runners. They play solid defensively,” Lady Vikings head coach Stephen Bunger said after the game. “Their pitcher did a good job to shut us down. We played hard, but they put up a strong performance.”

The following afternoon the Lady Vikings hosted the Madison Lady Patriots. Madison star pitcher Laurel Gragg may have graduated, but the Lady Patriots showed they still had firepower to contend with. Madison brought its hitting shoes on the road with them Friday in taking home a victory.

Avery’s lone hit for the contest came off the bat of senior Jessica Banner.

“The varsity played hard on Friday, but Madison was a strong opponent. Madison came ready to hit the ball,” Coach Bunger stated. “We made a few costly errors that put us in some rough spots. We are still having trouble avoiding the one big inning, but overall we played hard. We didn't hit the ball particularly well, but we got a few runners on with walks. We just couldn't seem to bring them across the plate.”

In junior varsity action, the Lady Vikings fell to Polk, but played well in a 5-2 loss to the Lady Patriots JVs on Friday afternoon. Brittany Brewer got the starting nod inside the circle and did a tremendous job of holding down the usually strong Madison offense.

“The JV's played a much tighter contest than the previous Madison game. Brittney pitched really well. We threatened several times with runners on base, sometimes with the bases loaded, but we just couldn't get the timely hit to bring the runners home,” Coach Bunger said after the game. “We hit the ball well and ran the bases well overall we just needed one or two more timely hits. Madison is a good team with good coaching and they came ready to hit the ball, but overall I was pleased with the effort from both teams.”

The Lady Vikings are busy with three games this week to close out the regular season schedule. The team hosted Mountain Heritage on Tuesday, then will host Cloudland (TN) this afternoon (Wednesday, May 5^th) for Senior Day, where seniors Jessica Banner, Amber Clark, Kaylea Davis, and Haley Hicks will be playing in their final home contest. Avery will travel to play neighboring rival Mitchell in Ledger on Friday afternoon.

Last week the Avery junior varsity baseball team tangled with the Polk Wolverines on Thursday and the Madison Patriots in home contest. In Thursday’s game Avery had hard time with the hot bats of Polk, falling 22-1 to the Wolverines in four innings. Due to the extra-inning varsity game preceding Friday’s matchup, the junior varsity managed only three innings against the Patriots, but came away with a 6-3 victory for its fifth win of the season.

Avery managed only four hits off a tough Polk County pitching staff. The Big Red tallied its only run in the bottom of the third when Bennett Sweat reached on an error, stole second base, and scored on a base hit from teammate Dillon Nelson.

Friday’s game was a much happier occasion for the Avery faithful. The junior varsity team was looking for the season sweep over Madison, having beaten the Patriots weeks earlier in Marshall.

Vikings right-hander Bennett Sweat gave up a pair of first-inning hits, but worked out of trouble without surrendering a run. In the bottom of the inning the Vikings put up three runs to take the early lead. Sweat helped his own cause with a double and later scored on a passed ball. Dillon Nelson walked, then teammate Dustin Clark belted a double to right centerfield helping to plate Nelson for the game’s second run. Clark himself scored later in the frame on a throwing error.

Madison got on the board in the second inning on a base hit, a passed ball, and an Avery error to cut the lead to 3-1. The Vikings got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Sweat belted his second double and scored on a Ty McCoury RBI single.

The run proved huge for Avery, as in the third and final inning Madison scored a pair on a two-run home run to left field to cut the Avery lead to 4-3. The Vikings prevented any further damage to preserve its lead. The managers agreed to allow the teams to play the bottom of the inning before darkness stopped the game, despite the home team holding the lead. Avery teammates Tyler Edwards and Ian Franklin both singled, and Lane Smith reached on a hit.

In the final play of the game Smith rounded third to score, but a good relay throw was caught by the catcher ahead of Smith’s arrival. The Avery catcher catapulted over the catcher and appeared to touch the plate safely, but the umpire ruled him out for the final out of the contest to close the game.

“Madison started a kid who hadn’t pitched a game, but he threw strikes. We had several guys step up and pick up big hits for us,” Avery junior varsity baseball coach Samuel Phillips said following the win. “We’ve made strides offensively and we were able to make routine plays, something that has killed us throughout the season.”

Sweat picked up the win on the mound in a complete-game effort.

“Tonight’s win was great. I’m proud of the kids. They had a tough game earlier this week with a good Polk team with a strong baseball tradition. We aren’t the biggest team in the world, but this season has been a roller coaster. It’s a little frustrating because there have been games and times where we’ve made the routine plays, pitched well, and hit the ball, and there have been others when we haven’t. For the most part, I’m pretty pleased with how tonight turned out.”

Baseball will play games this week against Mountain Heritage, and close its season on Friday with a game at Mitchell.