Tellico Plains picked up its fourth win of the season April 10 and first in District 3-2A play, when the Bears handled Polk County 8-1.
The win moves Tellico (4-12; 1-7) to 1-7 in league play, a spot that binds them to the play-in round for the upcoming District 3-2A tournament, but coach Heath Ware saw what he wanted to see from his team all season in the win.
“The thing I told them this year is we might not win a lot of games or we might, but I want them to compete, play our best and if a team beats us I want them to do it because they are better than us,” Ware said. “There have been a few games where we played hard and fought, but we struggled with the pitching or could not hit.”
Two days prior, Polk County’s ace Kolton Casson struck out 13 Bears in the series-opening win. A sign of the life that Ware wanted to see came in Wednesday’s response.
“It’s awesome. The day before, Kasson was on the mound and we battled pretty well. He had 13 strikeouts, but we battled, put some runs on the board and stayed with them for six innings,” Ware said. “We came out the next day and played hard. We hit the ball, got some bunts down and played our baseball. Things happened and we played good.
“We did exactly what I want them to do — get better. I don’t want them to quit with a tough season like this. It is easy for a team to pack it in and give up. This team is fighting and wanting to get better.”
This time, it was Tellico senior Peyton Dodson who stood tall on the mound. Dodson finished the night with 12 strikeouts, allowing only five hits and two walks of the 28 batters faced.
He allowed zero earned runs.
“Peyton did awesome. He has pitched well in games this year. He has had some good games and the defense behind him has made a few errors. Not really lost games for him but kept him from getting wins,” Ware said. “It was good for him to get on the mound and have that in the district. For him to step up and get the victory and pitch as well as he did and the defense playing behind him, it was awesome. It gives you a boost of confidence going into tournament time.”
Tellico’s defense delivered in moments. A leadoff walk could have prompted Polk County (5-8; 3-5) to strike early, but Kyle Duckworth caught Casson on a fielder’s choice and Dawson Edwards pinned down a steal to flip the script.
Dodson won a five-pitch at-bat for his first strikeout.
Tellico’s offense was more productive when given the moment.
Rylan Saffles singled into center field with one out in the bottom of the second. Clever baserunning moved him to third, allowing Cole Kirkland’s RBI single to open the scoring.
The Bears found what would be the winning run a few batters later. Keegan Collins reached first after being hit by a pitch. His steal of second base opened up Kirkland’s window to home for a two-run lead.
Dodson kept the momentum up an inning later, doubling in the first pitch of the frame. He touched home within five pitches, led by a Daren McJunkin RBI single to right field.
“At one point, we were like 1 for 26 on bunts. Since I have been here, I am a small-ball guy and I like to bunt a little bit,” Ware said. “We have struggled doing that, but today they laid some bunts down and had some timely hits. What impressed me the most is they did the things I asked and they did not give up.
“A season like this, a lot of people would have quit, but they have not. They keep fighting and getting better. They are making progress to next year as well.”
Kirkland and Clint Moser added more baserunners in the fourth inning — Tellico’s biggest surge — after a single and a walk. Kirkland crossed home plate off an error.
Three batters later, Kyle Duckworth singled into right field, scoring Moser. Edwards became run No. 6 when McJunkin was hit with the bases loaded.
Dodson — extremely influential in both phases — got another rally going in the sixth inning. A one-out single put him aboard before reaching third and loaded the bases off an error and the third-hit batter of the night.
Jonah Wilson laid down a bunt, scoring Dodson and moving everyone along. Saffles was hit in a 3-1 count for Tellico’s final run.
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