The Sweetwater freshmen are adapting to varsity baseball just fine.
Trailing county rival Sequoyah by a run in the bottom of the sixth, Sweetwater saw back-to-back leadoff singles from two freshmen before a third freshman scored the go-ahead run, beating the Chiefs 7-6 on Friday.
Trailing 6-5, Nolan Dacus started the bottom of the sixth with a shot into left field before Ashton Brown showed off his speed.
Brown’s bunt had no problem moving Dacus into scoring position, but the freshman turned heads, beating the ball up the first base line and onto the bags.
Freshman Bryson Burgess stepped in as a courtesy runner for Brown. Two quick outs nearly spoiled Sweetwater’s surge before Blaine Watson — one of two returning TSWA All-State selections — laced a two-out single down the right-field line.
“It is different for those guys and it is big-boy baseball. There is a learning curve. We are going to take some bumps along the road but, hopefully here in a month, they won’t be like freshmen,” Sweetwater coach Travis Watson said.
Through a rainy and windy night, Sequoyah showed its pride, turning a leadoff walk into an early lead. Josh Britton singled, moving Ashton Stamey into scoring position.
Stamey crossed home plate after stealing the next two bags.
The Chiefs (2-1) trailed 4-1 heading into the fourth frame. Back-to-back walks put Britton and Ryan Hall on before a Bryson Raper liner scored two. Levi Johnson tied the score with a next-batter single.
“Wow, the second inning was not clean baseball on our part. I thought our offense did a good job of getting on base and putting pressure on Sweetwater’s defense after that and we were able to bounce back and put some more runs on the board,” Sequoyah coach Josh Monhollen said. “If we limit some base running mistakes, I think we have a great chance of being on the other side of a one-run game.”
Sequoyah stole five bases on the night but was caught twice.
Sweetwater’s largest production of the night came in the bottom of the second.
Dacus reached on an error that scored Jayden Richesin before Burgess sent Caleb Powell home with a single — the first lead change of three.
Sweetwater scored four runs through four at-bats after a Tucker Lorenz sacrifice fly scored Dacus. Kai Correll singled to score Burgess.
“It was a tough night to play to start with. Our new turf really helped and handled that well,” Watson said. “This team has a knack for winning and a knack for coming from behind. There was no panic in the dugout. We just kind of found a way to get it done in the end.”
The second lead change of the night came in the top of the sixth. Sequoyah picked up two free base runners off a walk and hit batter. Johnson sent a one-out single into play, scoring Luke Brackett.
After advancing to third on a double steal, Raper scored off a wild pitch.
“While it’s difficult to end the week on a loss with unearned runs and free outs on the bases, we have seen a lot of great things from our guys this week,” Monhollen said. “We’ve had a good first week that has shown the competitiveness and scrappiness of the group that we have this year. It’s a long season with a lot of opportunities to learn and improve, and I’m excited to see another chance for our guys to compete on Monday.”
Britton pitched four innings for Sequoyah before finding relief from Hall and Brackett. The trio combined for two strikeouts, three earned runs and five walks.
Sweetwater’s Watson led the Wildcats’ nine strikeouts with six. Lorenz contributed an inning before Richesin closed the night.
“Blaine threw good enough for a win. For Jayden to get out there and kind of get his feet wet was really good,” Travis Watson said. “Tucker came in and had a clean inning. I think if you can eliminate a couple of walks there, that is what we are striving to do. The first game out in terms of pitching — that is part of it.
“It is a tough game to play.”
Sweetwater led the two teams with eight runners left on compared to Sequoyah’s two.
“We were aggressive with steals, but late in the game, we were less aggressive when it got slick. We were trying to move the ball to get the game tied there,” Watson added. “We are constantly talking about each inning. Each situation is always different, there is always teaching as much as we can.”
Sweetwater debuted its renovated complex with three games this week, outscoring opponents 30-12 through 20 innings.
“Shoutout to the fans. They hung in there through a wet, cold night. We appreciate the community and Donnie Brown with his efforts on the field,” Watson said. “It has turned out really nice and we are hoping to continue to build on that facility. The community has been super supportive during this process.”
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