Bulldogs baseball sweeps Grainger
Published 6:48 pm Tuesday, April 17, 2018
<p>Allen Earl | Claiborne Progress</p> <p>Cedric Brown comes up and shows everyone the ball after a great diving effort in right field.</p>
<p>Allen Earl | Claiborne Progress</p> <p>Blaine Caylor stumbles but somehow touches the plate before the catcher tags him with the baseball.</p>
For Claiborne High School baseball to start getting the recognition they deserve, this team needed to get a signature district win.
They earned that “W” April 9 at home when they defeated the Grainger County Grizzlies and improved their district record to a perfect 5-0 and then went on the road and got win number six.
Grainger almost manufactured a run during the first inning but the Bulldogs ended their hopes. The Grizzlies left one on the base pads. During the bottom of the first, Claiborne went down in order.
Grainger went down in order during the second inning in part to a controversial diving catch by Cedric Brown. The Grizzly fans in attendance did not like the call but both officials had made the same call that the catch was completed. The Bulldogs didn’t fare much better in the second as they left one at third. Jake Wilson had tripled but they failed to get him across home plate.
Grainger got on the board first when a single plated a run with two outs in the third. Jon Werner reached first with a base on balls but the Bulldogs never scored.
Grainger left another run on the base pads during the fourth inning and Claiborne finally got their offensive production on track. Ryley Hager and Jake Wilson both singled and a clutch single by Hadyn Hollin scored the tying run. Brown was erased on a fielder’s choice but it set up runners on the corners. Warner reached on a walk and loaded the bases for Wesley Brooks. Brooks reached base on an error that plated one run but a bad throw allowed the Bulldogs third run to score.
With the lead, Wilson continued his great pitching and shut down Grainger finishing the game with a strikeout. The final score could have been larger for the home team as Elijah Beason uncharacteristically struggled at the plate and Gage Callebs just missed a home run.
The Bulldogs then went to Grainger April 9 and remained perfect in district play with a 3-2 victory in 10 innings.
“Defensively, that was likely the best 10 innings we have ever played. Beason had big hits for us when we needed them the most.”
Beason singled up the middle and Alex Boling used heads up base running to score the winning run. Brown pitched seven and Beason three innings during the hard earned victory.
