North Greene thwarted elimination and ended Unaka’s season with a 5-1 win over the Rangers in the District 1-1A Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m feeling good. Just glad to get that win,” Head Coach Jamey Palmer stated.
Palmer had one message after Friday’s loss to University HIgh. Survive and advance. The Huskies waited for Unaka to survive a comeback effort from Cloudland to play for a spot in the District 1-1A Championship. They never truly got going, but managed to play well enough on both sides to snag a four-run win to keep the season alive.
The Huskies will meet with University High for the fifth time this season on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 for the District Championship. North Greene is gunning for their first title since 2021. University is aiming for their fourth-straight.
To get there the Huskies received a complete game, one-run performance from sophomore pitcher Brady Malone. He lasted all seven innings and gave up one run (unearned) and struck out four batters.
“Brady did a good job for us. Anytime you can throw seven innings in an elimination game that brings a lot of confidence for you,” Coach Palmer mentioned.
North Greene only got five hits out of their lineup, but managed to do some damage combined with Unaka’s three errors and three walks. Isaac Gaby had the only two-hit day and Jaiden Bailey had the only two-run game from the leadoff spot.
With the win they also earned a spot in the Region 1-1A Tournament for the third-straight year.
Palmer expressed his thoughts of making it back to regions with the goal in mind. “Just an opportunity to go see what we’re made of and maybe redeem something from last year.”
Through the ups and downs of the season Coach Palmer took a moment to express his passion for the game and the young men he feels privileged to coach.
“I’m passionate about baseball. I’m passionate about these guys. I’ve got 14 or 15 sons in there. I just want them to do good. Just compete and go play. I’m a little tough on them sometimes, but I hope when they get older and have kids they’ll look back and say ‘he wasn’t tough on me he was just a good coach,’. Super proud of those guys.”
The first two innings saw little to no action. Gaby singled in the first and Tyler Britton was struck by a pitch in the second, but no runs were found.
They found one run in the third to take a 1-0 lead. Wyatt Burns led off with a walk and reached home plate on Isaac Gaby’s RBI-single.
Unaka threatened in the fourth with back-to-back two-out singles, but Malone got out of the jam by getting a ground out to end the frame. North Greene added another in the bottom to go up 2-0. Owen Pierce lined a single down the left field line and crossed the plate with an RBI-double off the bat of Tyler Britton.
Another threat came into the equation with a bases-loaded situation when Unaka got to bat again. Back-to-back singles and an error loaded the bags. The Rangers scored one on a fielder’s choice play, but that was all they would get.
Five pitches into the bottom half North Greene got that run back. Bailey dropped a fly ball in center field to keep Unaka’s run going and made up for it by hitting a bloop shot into right field that forced them to make an error. He stole second and then dashed toward third after a bad pickoff attempt. Gaby flew out to first, but a bad throw to the plate ended up hitting the backstop and Bailey sprinted home to get the run back.
A single by Jake Duffy and a hit-by-pitch to Pierce put two on first and second. Duffy scored on Christian Cogdill’s hit into a fielder’s choice. North Greene led 4-1 after the fifth.
The Huskies added one more insurance run in the sixth and loaded the bases with two outs. Bailey’s savvy base running came into play again and he scored the final run on a wild pitch that got away from the catcher.
Unaka put two aboard in the seventh, but a ground out to Tyler Britton at third ended the contest.
North Greene staved off elimination and defeated Unaka 5-1 to advance into tomorrow’s title game vs. University High. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at TVA Credit Union Park in downtown Johnson City.
