SMYRNA – The Greeneville baseball team continued its winning ways with a 6-2 win against a familiar foe in Upperman on Thursday in the Class 3A State Tournament.
Winning at this level is nothing new to the Greene Devils. For the third-straight year Greeneville reaches the state semifinals and is now one win away from reaching the State Championship once again. The Greene Devils will meet up with South Gibson again on Friday at 2 PM Central Time. South Gibson has to win twice to eliminate Greeneville from the state tournament.
To get there Greeneville had to swat the Upperman Bees and avoid their sting once again. Upperman had been on a little revenge tour after Greeneville defeated them in the State Championship in 2023. They ended Greeneville’s football season in 2023, ended their girls’ basketball season in 2024, and their boys’ basketball season as recently as March. The baseball squad made sure to avoid the loser’s bracket and handled business accordingly.
Later in the evening South Gibson defeated Upperman 3-1 to end the Bees’ tournament.
Will Harmon took the bump for his second-career start in the State Tournament and went the distance, hurling seven complete innings with one earned run and five hits. His start was shaky in the first allowing three hits and two walks, but he limited the damage to two runs. The rest of the way he only allowed two hits, four walks, and zero runs in the remaining six innings.
“I started out kind of slow. I didn’t have a feel for a lot of stuff, but then afterwards I worked into it and got into a groove and kind of stayed in my rhythm the whole game. That led to not giving more runs up,” he detailed.
Fresh off winning Mr. Baseball, Carson Quillen delivered another big performance at the plate and went 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBIs, and two walks from the leadoff spot. Looking ahead to the semis, Quillen reflected on his past experiences and the bad luck that Greeneville seems to have in the third game of the tournament.
“We’ve been here before. The past two times we’ve been here we’ve actually lost this next game,” he stated. “These teams are going to want to come back and beat us. It’s great that we won but we’ve got to look ahead now and what we want to do in the end.”
Senior Jeriah Griffin provided big plays in big spots with a diving catch in the outfield and a 2-out single to spark a two-run inning in the fourth. He was the only Greene Devil on the field on Thursday who was experiencing the state tournament for the first time after transferring from Elizabethton to Greeneville earlier this year. Two games in he is making the most of it and enjoying it every step of the way.
“This feels great. There’s nothing like this. I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had playing this sport in my life,” he expressed.
For Noah Murray, the scene is familiar. His third appearance in the State Tournament has gone smoothly so far going 3-for-5 with 2 walks and an RBI in two games. His defense and leadership behind the plate has been on point, helping Harmon and Quillen get both wins on the mound. He explained his thoughts on reaching the semifinals again, “It’s exciting to get to move on to another round and play another day.”
The Greene Devils got stung early with a two-run opening frame for Upperman. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with only one out. An RBI-double from Julian Llano scored Upperman’s first run, but a key play happened early on that play that came in handy for Greeneville in the long run. A second run was traveling toward the plate, but a relay from outfielder Maddox Bishop helped gun the runner at the dish and keep the run from scoring. The second run was scored on a passed ball.
Harmon walked two in the second, but got out of the jam to hang a zero in the frame.
Once the lineup wrapped back around to Quillen, the Greene Devils started going to work. Quillen singled with one out and started a three-run inning. Carson Norris walked and Bishop was struck by a pitch to load the bases. Harmon helped himself on the mound by drawing a walk and scored Quillen. Murray lined an RBI-single into center and scored Norris next. Kobe Mundy hit a sac fly to left and scored Bishop to finish the inning. Greeneville led 3-2 midway through the third.
A game-changing play occurred in right field at the end of the third. Jeriah Griffin laid out for a diving snag to end the inning and left one runner stranded.
“I saw the ball in the air and realized I had a good chance to make a play and get us out of the inning. Will was dealing pretty good and throwing strikes for us and I just went out and made the play for the team,” Griffin explained.
The play gave Greeneville a boost that led to a three-run inning that once again started with Griffin. He singled with two outs and stole second to put himself in scoring position. Quillen sent him home on an RBI-double to go ahead 4-2. Norris walked for the third-straight time and Bishop was hit by a pitch for the second-straight time to once again load the bases. Harmon singled to center to score Quillen and Greeneville led 5-2 midway through the fourth.
The bats cooled down on both sides with only one combined hit from both teams in the fifth and sixth innings.
Greeneville added one run of insurance in the seventh. Quillen walked with the bases loaded and boosted their lead to 6-2.
Upperman had two on base with one out in the seventh, but two-straight outs ended the game and sent Greeneville to the semis.
Greeneville advanced to the semifinals with the win and will meet back up with South Gibson on Friday at Smyrna High School. The Devils are one win away from reaching the State Championship and need to be defeated twice to end their season. First pitch is set for 2 PM CT.
