JOHNSON CITY – It was not pretty at times, but the North Greene baseball team found a way to win on Thursday night as it took down Unaka 8-5 in the District 1-1A Tournament.
“Things didn’t go our way early and few calls went against us. We needed a wake-up call, and we got it in the fifth inning,” North Greene coach Jamey Palmer said. “We put some speed on the bases and good things happened. It just feels good to get a win. For the past couple of weeks it feels like we have been on the other side of this. We’ve competed and we’ve come up short. To see us come out on top this time feels really good.”
During the regular season the Huskies beat Unaka three times by a combined score of 35-0. On Thursday they were out hit 10-3, and out played on defense, but they found a way to come out on top stay in the tournament’s winners’ bracket.
North Greene moves on to play University High on Friday at TVA Credit Union Park in Johnson City. University High beat Cloudland 32-0 on Thursday. The winner will advance to the district championship on Sunday and the Region 1-1A Tournament. The loser will have to fight through the losers’ bracket on Saturday.
“We know who we have tomorrow, we have UH and they are going to come ready,” Palmer said. “We have to do some things different, and hopefully we can shock the world. I just want our guys to come out and compete, put some runs on the board and play clean defense.”
The day started with North Greene taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Isaac Gaby and Jake Duffy got back-to-back walks, and they each got 90 feet closer on a steal. Owen Pierce sent a flay ball deep into left field and Gaby scored on the sacrifice.
In the second frame the Rangers evened the score. With two outs Austin Lambert put an RBI single into right field that scored Rylan Crabtree.
In the bottom of the side North Greene regained the lead. Tyler Britton was walked to get things going, and he went to third when Rangers threw the ball away trying to catch Jaiden Bailey at first. Gaby put a sacrifice into left field to put the Huskies in front 2-1.
Two unearned runs gave Unaka a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning. First Brandon Buckles reached on an infield error. A short chopper to third looked like it would give the Huskies a chance to catch Buckles at the plate, but the ball was misplayed. On the same play North Greene still had a chance to catch Crabtree at first, but a second error let Robert Humphrey go first to third. A ground out followed, but Humphrey scored the go-ahead run from third.
Things turned in North Greene’s favor in the bottom of the fifth inning and that started with Gaby earning the Huskies first hit. He ripped a line drive into the left-center gap and the ball kept rolling to the deepest part of the park for a triple.
Through the first four innings North Greene struggled to make solid contact, and Gaby’s hit was the first line drive of the day. While not many hits followed it seemed to light a spark in the dugout.
“That was such a big hit, and you heard it from the dugout, they were going wild,” Palmer said. “We need that good energy. We need guys to hit it with authority,” Palmer said.
Gaby scored the tying run on a bases-loaded walk, and Duffy gave the lead back to North Greene when he made it across the dish on a wild pitch. Aidan Halley knocked in the next two runs when he slammed a single into left field.
The fifth run of the side crossed when Turner Collins took advantage of another wild pitch to put the Huskies in front 7-3.
The Rangers wee doomed by four walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches in the frame.
North Greene plated one more run in the sixth inning. Gaby led off by skipping a single past the shortstop. He stole home when the Rangers’ were too nonchalant about getting the ball back to the mound.
Unaka tried its best to rally in the seventh inning with Cannon splitting the left-center gap with a two-run single, but Britton ended the threat with a pair of strikeouts.
Halley earned the win on the mound on Thursday. In 6 1/3 innings he struck out five, walked none and allowed 10 hits. Britton was credited with the save. He struck out the only two batters he faced.
At the plate North Greene only earned three hits on Thursday, but nine walks and two hit batters led to eight runs. Gaby was 2-for-3 with a triple and three runs scored. Halley had a two-run single.
