After making the finals of the Twin Lakes conference tournament and earning the right to advance to next week’s Region 1 tournament, the Greeneville Greene Devils and the Volunteer Falcons turned their attention to the task at hand; winning a conference title.
The Falcons turned to Greydon Dennis, while the Greene Devils Handed the ball to Carson Norris. Although both pitchers know exactly what they needed to do, Norris carried out the plan to a tee. He continually threw strikes, kept the hitters off balance, and let the defense work behind him as the game went along. The junior pitcher allowed only 3 hits , 3 walks, and collected 3 strikeouts over his five innings of work.
Greeneville looked to get things started early on as Carson Quillen and Colton Richards would collect back to back singles with one out in the bottom of the first. Kaine Ricker would then draw a walk to load the bases and it looked as if they would have momentum on their side. Will Harmon stepped to the plate and lifted an apparent sacrifice fly to right, but the throw would come in to the plate and Quillen would be called out to complete the double play, ending the inning.
Greeneville would once again apply the pressure to Volunteer by loading the bases in the bottom of the second when Noah Murray reached on a single, Eli House was hit by a pitch, and Koby Mundy singled on a bunt. However, the fire would be put out with a fielder’s choice and a hard line drive that was caught by the third baseman and turned into a double play.
It was the third inning when the Greene Devils would finally break through. Richards picked up his second single of the day and would advance all the way to third when Ricker was erased on a ground out. Will Harmon stepped up big and singled to right, driving in Richards for the game’s first run.
The fourth inning proved to be the difference when House singled on a line drive to left, Munday reached on a bunt single, and Cannon drew a walk to load them up, once again. Maddox Bishop would lift a fly ball to right that would be deep enough to score House, increasing the advantage to 2-0, and leave runners on the corners. A second walk of the inning would load the bases, but a balk would send the runners into motion, allowing Mundy to cross the plate for the 3-0 lead. A triplet of singles, followed by a sacrifice fly would plate three more and the Devils would lead 7-0.
In the top of the fifth, the Greene Devils would make a defensive miscue when a throw to first would pull House off the bag, allowing Bowery to reach. He would then advance to third when Connor Hayes would double on a hit and run. However, the Devil defense would catch Hayes sleeping when he rounded second too far and was thrown out, as Richards snuck in behind.
Mundy picked up his third hit of the day, with a bunt single, to get the inning started. He would advance to second on a Cannon sacrifice bunt. Two base on balls would load the bases, but as Richards lifted a sacrifice fly to right, Mundy would score, making it 8-0. Ricker came to the plate and singled on a line drive single to center, scoring Bishop and Quillen, sending Greeneville to their 15th consecutive conference title by the score of 10-0.
Both teams will play in the Region 1-AAA tournament next week. The schedule will be released early next week.
