ELIZABTHTON – The North Greene Huskies rode a hot start to the finish and defeated Washburn 5-2 in Saturday’s Region 1-1A Tournament opener at Milligan University.
The Huskies came out swinging from the very start and put up five runs in the first two innings and, even though they went scoreless the rest of the way, it was just enough to get them to the finish line first.
“They are a good team. I think they threw three or four different pitchers there and kind of kept us off balance a little bit. But overall, we played good, clean defense and found some ways to score runs early and put the pressure on them,” North Greene head Coach Jamey Palmer stated.
The Huskies had to have perfect defense and some special plays in the field to get this one done. It was their first game since April 9th with zero errors committed. A pickoff in the first, a double play in the fourth, and an outfield assist in the seventh were three key plays that played a huge factor into the game’s result.
Aiden Halley pitched a complete game on the bump and held Washburn in check with only two earned runs. He didn’t record any strikeouts and allowed nine hits and four walks, but relied on a stellar defensive performance by the Huskies to get all 21 outs.
Isaac Gaby had the only multi-hit and multi-run game going 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.
Another contest with University High is next for the Huskies after they defeated Cosby in the other first-round game. It will be the sixth time the team meet this season and this one will be for the Region 1-1A Championship. The loser will then play the winner of Cosby/Washburn at 4 p.m. with a spot in sectionals on the line.
North Greene’s hot start began when Jaiden Bailey led off the game with a walk and Isaac Gaby singled right after him. Tyler Britton singled next and loaded the bases with one out. Brady Malone put the ball in play and forced Washburn to make a mistake and that’s just what happened. An errant throw got away and the Huskies sent two runners home to take a 2-0 lead. Owen Pierce flew into a sacrifice fly and helped Tyler Britton score next. The Huskies left the opening frame with a 3-0 lead.
They kept the bottom half clean and did so by picking off a base runner trying to jump the gun on a steal of second base.
In the second inning, Wyatt Burns was struck by a pitch and took his spot on first. He managed to steal second and a bad throw gave him the chance to go for third. He got there safely and got to touch home plate through an RBI-single from Gaby. With two outs Gaby knew he was running on contact and started sprinting when the ball popped off Jake Duffy’s bat. Duffy got a single to fall and in came Gaby to put North Greene ahead 5-0 in the middle of the second inning.
The Pirates put two aboard the start the bottom half and scored one, but left one stranded as they cut into North Greene’s lead and made it 5-1.
North Greene loaded the bases in the third, but couldn’t get any across. Two singles from Washburn gave them two runners with only one out, but North Greene limited the damage once again and only allowed one run in the frame.
The game would go scoreless the rest of the way, but the ways that the Huskies were able to keep it scoreless are worth noting. Back-to-back walks and a single loaded the bases again for Washburn. A line drive was hit directly at Isaac Gaby and an easy catch and flip to Tyler Britton at second base resulted in an inning-ending double play. Washburn put two runners on in the fifth, but Halley got the next two batters to fly out and ground out to get out of the inning. The sixth inning saw three-straight fly outs to each of the three Husky outfielders. They never seriously threatened in the seventh, but they received a clutch play from Jake Duffy on the outfield. The senior center fielder canned a runner trying to extend a single into a double and sent him back to the dugout.
“Honestly, we’d really done our homework. Myself and Coach Dylan tried to get some film on those guys and try to put our defense into positions that benefit us and, of course, sometimes it did and sometimes it didn’t,” Coach Palmer stated.
North Greene did enough to come away with a 5-2 win over Washburn and moved one game away from securing a sectional series.
The Huskies play University High at 11:00 AM on Saturday morning. In the event they win, they advance to next week’s sectional round. In the event they lose, they return to play the winner of Washburn/Cosby at 4:30 with the same stakes. Those games are all set to be played at Milligan.
Coach Palmer left off by saying, “We’ve just got to keep things going like we’re going. We got to hit it a little better. When we get runners on, we’ve got to get them in. No matter who you play, that’s part of the game of baseball. You get them on, you get them in. Play clean defense and you give yourself a chance to win. Happy to be where we are, but the road is still gonna be tough.”
