The Greeneville baseball team got off to a rocky start on Monday night, but they did not let Grainger play from in front for long and secured an 11-5 win.
“We had three days off and it looked like it, but it was good to get a win,” Greeneville coach Andy Collins said. “It was good to take the lead back quickly and play from in front. The guys were patient with their at bats and that was good to see.”
With the win Greeneville improves to 17-5 and 4-1 in District 2-3A.
Monday’s action began with Grainger jumping in front 4-0 on just three hits, helped by an error, walk, two passed ball and a wild pitch.
Josh Walker started the night by hitting into an error and scored when a wild pitch slammed into the backstop. Garrett Keiter made it 2-0 when he crossed the dish on a passed ball.
Jackson Trent legged out an RBI single and Caden Brabson dropped an RBI single into left field.
Greeneville finally got out of the inning and the offense went to work turning the tide.
Maddox Bishop started the bottom of the first by skipping Nolan Wallace’s first delivery of the night through the left side of the infield. Kaine Ricker then sent Wallace’s second delivery by the third baseman.
Bishop got aggressive on the base path to advance to third and score on a pair of passed balls. The ball he scored on never made it to the grass in front of the dish, but he made a good break and beat the tag for the Devils’ first run of the night.
“They came in and scored four runs on us, and I knew we just needed to get something going,” Bishop said. “I just saw the ball kick away from the catcher. I know I’m a fast runner, and when the ball kicked I just took off. It was great to swing the momentum after falling behind and hopefully we can carry that into the rest of the week.”
Wallace then walked four straight batters to score Ricker and Tegan Begley. Colton Smith hit one back to the mound that was mishandled, allowing him to reach safely while Will Harmon scored the tying run.
Another bases-loaded walk ended Wallace’s day without recording an out. Bishop worked a bases-loaded walk while facing Braxton Davis, and Ricker banged one off the left field wall for his second hit of the inning.
Begley knocked in the final run of the frame on a sacrifice fly that put the Devils in front 8-4
After the rough first inning Begley faced six combined batters in the second and third frames. He got help from his defense both times with inning-ending double plays in both frames.
In the bottom of the third inning Greeneville added two more runs when Bishop blasted a two-run home run over the wall in left-center field.
“It was a 3-2 count and he threw me a fastball up and in. That’s definitely my pitch, and I took advantage of it,” Bishop said.
Bishop finished Monday 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored while reaching base four times.
Grainger was able to add another unearned run in the fourth inning. With two outs Colton Parrott reached on a comebacker to the mound and scored when Garrett Keller fired a line drive past the third baseman.
Greeneville scored again in the bottom of the fourth to increase its advantage to 11-5. Sam Thompson started things by flying a double deep into the left-center gap, and on the next at bat Smith followed by slamming an RBI double into the left-field corner.
Begley earned the win for Greeneville. In four innings he struck out four, walked two and allowed seven hits.
Silar Lewis finished the game with five strikeouts, no walks and one hit allowed in three innings.
At the plate Thompson was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Ricker went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Smith had a double and two RBIs, and Kase Spradlen had a double.
Greeneville will be back in action on Tuesday at Volunteer for a double that starts at 4:30 PM.
