West Greene’s baseball team capitalized on a big second inning and got a strong pitching performance from Jayden Cox to earn an 11-1 win over Gatlinburg-Pittman on Senior Night.
Coach Adrian Sauceman was pleased with his team’s performance. “Great job by Jayden on the mound. He threw a complete game with 10 strikeouts and only three walks, which is a season low for him in a start and big heading into the district tournament. Offensively, we took advantage of some things, but we also hit the ball pretty well.”
Cox allowed a single run in the top of the first, then only allowed one Highlander to reach third base the rest of the game. He struck out 10, walked three, hit one batter, and allowed five hits in the complete-game win. “Jayden is a dog and someone we count on any time he pitches,” Sauceman added.
Ethan Carpenter led the Buffaloes’ offense with two hits (a double and a single) while driving in a run. Aiden Willett and Brandon Hunter each drove in a pair of runs with singles.
Jayden Barton led off the game by driving an 0-2 pitch into the left-center gap for a double. After stealing third, he scored on a Dylan Pelfrey single to give the Highlanders a 1-0 lead. “Pelfrey did not play against us the first time, so we didn’t really know much about him,” Sauceman said. “We blew two fastballs by him and thought we could get a third, but he roped that one into the gap and ruined that.”
The Highlanders threatened again in the second as Nathan Williams led off with a double, but he was stranded at third after two big strikeouts.
West Greene sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second and came away with eight runs while recording just two hits. Willett was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and advanced to second on an errant throw from the third baseman.
Christian Hunter then stepped in and laid down a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt that was misplayed, loading the bases with nobody out.
Two consecutive hit batters and a walk gave West Greene a 3-1 lead and chased Highlander starter Ryan Cutshaw from the game. Cutshaw took the loss, allowing six runs (four earned) despite not surrendering a hit.
Carter Stills greeted reliever Ayden Simington with an RBI single, and Brandon Hunter followed with a two-RBI single to push the lead to 7-1. By the end of the inning, West Greene held an 8-1 advantage and firmly controlled the game.
Sauceman stressed the importance of capitalizing on opportunities. “If you take those walks and hit-by-pitches and don’t get any hits with them, maybe you only get two or three runs and it’s a completely different game. Combining those things and being patient at the plate, while still attacking pitches in the zone, was big against two of their better pitchers.”
West Greene added single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to close out the 11-1 win and improve to 12-14 on the season.
The Buffaloes will wrap up the regular season Monday when they host Cumberland Gap at 5:30 p.m. before opening the District 1-2A Tournament on Wednesday against South Greene.
