McMinn Central exploded for 11 runs off seven walks, four hits and two errors in the bottom of the second inning to blast Tellico Plains 12-1 in a five-inning District 3-2A contest on Monday.
The Bears (4-14; 1-8) held Central to no runs and one hit after the catastrophic half-inning turned what was a one-run deficit into a 12-0 challenge.
“We just made some errors and, with their pitching and hitters, it is hard to capitalize and get back in a game once you have made that many errors and given up that many runs,” Tellico Plains coach Heath Ware said. “By the end, we could not use all the pitching we had, so we had to keep throwing guys in there that throw strikes. They were hitting — give them credit, they swing the bat real well.”
Clint Moser stepped into the fray on the mound. The Tellico sophomore struck out four batters through three innings, allowing two hits and no earned runs.
“He has done exactly what we have done all year. This year, we have had to call on him and guys that have not pitched much in the past,” Ware said. “He did well tonight and we are proud of him.”
Moser has pitched five innings this season, and none last year.
Peyton Dodson started the night for Tellico on the mound, striking out two batters and walking three. Jonah Wilson tossed 15 pitches while Keegan Collins threw nine.
Dodson started the third inning off with a double before Kyle Duckworth moved him to third with a consecutive double. Will Sanders sent an RBI groundout to shortstop, scoring Dodson.
With Duckworth on third, Cole Kirkland battled through a six-pitch at-bat, striking out to end the inning.
Tellico found just one baserunner after scoring, a walk to Moser in the fourth inning.
McMinn Central (10-11; 6-3) started the night with consecutive singles, going ahead 1-0 after just 10 pitches. The frame could have been more costly after an error and a walk, but Dodson turned consecutive strikeouts to end the frame.
Moser struck out the side in the bottom of the third after allowing a leadoff, first-pitch single. Moser started the fourth off with a strikeout before putouts from Enrique Medina and Roper Gudger ended the frame.
District Turmoil
The Monroe County teams — Sweetwater and Tellico Plains — have already sealed their fates on opposite sides of the District 3-2A standings.
Sweetwater will host as the top seed at 9-1 with a bye straight into the four-team double-elimination bracket. They will host the winner of the play-in game between No. 5 Polk County and No. 4 Meigs County — a must-win single game in Decatur.
Tellico Plains (1-8) will travel to the undertermed three seed — either Kingston or McMinn Central — in the opposite play-in game.
Kingston and McMinn Central match one another at 6-3 with a series split. Kingston holds the second tie-breaker — fewer number of runs allowed between the two teams involved — having allowed just 14 runs to Central’s 19.
If both teams win or lose on April 23, Kingston will automatically reach the double-elimination bracket while Central hosts Tellico Plains.
If Central wins and Kingston loses its regular-season district finale to Meigs County, the Chargers move to No. 2.
The same tiebreaker has Meigs County (3-6) ahead of Polk County (3-7) regardless of Meigs’ result versus Kingston.
Meigs had allowed 14 runs to Polk while the Wildcats allowed 19 in one game to the Tigers.
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