Greeneville and Knox Catholic entered Friday night’s matchup trending in opposite directions. The Greene Devils came in riding a five-game winning streak, while the Irish arrived looking to snap a four-game skid. In the end, it was Catholic that flipped the script, claiming a 7-4 victory to spoil Greeneville’s senior night and complete the season sweep.
Connor York set the tone early, leading off the game with a double down the right field line. However, he would be stranded at third as Greeneville senior Randen Fillers settled in, striking out two of the next three hitters to escape the inning.
Greeneville threatened in the first as Kaine Ricker singled and Tegan Begley was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, but Catholic starter Edward Brabham regrouped to strike out the next two batters and leave them in scoring position.
The Greene Devils broke through in the bottom of the second. Jacob Ward reached on a two-out throwing error and moved to second. After Jaxon Winter was hit by a pitch, Ward’s courtesy runner, Jack Lister, came around to score on a wild pitch to give Greeneville a 1-0 lead.
Catholic answered in the third using small ball. Eli Dryjanski drew a walk and advanced to second on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by Eli Maurer. After moving to third on a balk, Dryjanski scored on a sacrifice fly from York to even the score at 1-1.
Greeneville responded in the bottom half of the inning. Begley singled to center and advanced to second on a balk before Grayson Crosby delivered a bloop double to right to drive him in. Sam Thompson followed with an RBI single, pushing the lead to 3-1.
After a quiet fourth inning, Catholic seized control in the fifth. The Irish sent 11 batters to the plate and scored five runs—only two earned—to take a 6-3 lead. Gabe Ronca walked to lead off the inning, and Dryjanski followed with a bunt single. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, prompting Greeneville to bring the infield in.
A ground ball led to a throwing error that allowed Ronca to score, and a DJ Lowery single plated Dryjanski. Rylan Jessee then singled to load the bases before Conor Hussey brought in York with a productive groundout. With two outs, Brabham delivered the big blow with a two-run double to left. Caiden Layman followed with a walk, ending Fillers’ night after 4.2 innings.
Silar Lewis entered in relief and recorded a walk and a strikeout to limit further damage.
Begley handled the final two innings for Greeneville, allowing one unearned run on three hits while striking out two.
The Devils added a run in the bottom of the seventh when Ricker lined an RBI single past second base to score Maddox Bishop, who had led off with a double. However, Brabham retired the next three hitters to secure the win.
Brabham earned the complete-game victory, allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits while striking out six. Fillers took the loss, giving up six runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
At the plate, Bishop and Begley each recorded a double and a single for Greeneville, while Ricker added two hits. For Catholic, Lowery, Jessee, and Brabham each finished with two hits.
Greeneville, now 30-8, will travel to Science Hill on Saturday for an 11 a.m. start before opening play in the District 2-3A Tournament on Wednesday at Eastman Credit Union Field at Pioneer Park.
