King takes two from Pikeville

The sun shined down warm and bright on the baseball field at King College on Friday afternoon.

Tornado sophomore pitcher Tee Blevins’ arm burned hotter.

Blevins struck out Pikeville’s first batter of the game and proceeded to skillfully navigate through the rest, racking up five strikeouts and allowing just one hit over 6 1/3 strong innings in a winning decision.

Riding Blevins’ smooth wave, King downed the Bears 8-0 in the second game of a doubleheader to earn a two-game sweep of Pikeville in an NAIA matchup.

"I felt good early and then it just started to build," said Blevins, an Elizabethton native. "I knew I had a good defense to back me, and I was able to get all my pitches across."

Blevins consistently mixed speeds on four impressive pitches – curve, fastball, slider, change-up – and left Pikeville’s lineup either swinging at air or hitting low liners to the first-base side of King’s infield defense.

"I told our guys to be patient, but I think we were maybe a little too patient," said Bears coach Don Ashby. "We kept getting into counts and being down 0-1, and then we were in the hole. Then he’d just blow a fastball by us or set us up with an off-speed pitch and we weren’t ready."

Bears designated hitter Matt Fleener broke up Blevins’ no-hit bid with an infield single down the third-base line with one out in the top of the seventh inning.

"[Blevins] just had great command and he was hitting his spots. He was outstanding," said King coach Mark Conkin. "[Tornado senior catcher] Craig [Cant] called a great game, too, and we played well in the field. This was a good day for us."

Mike Torrence went 2-for-2 with two triples, two runs scored and two RBI in the second game to lead the Tornado (3-0), while Brett Cant added a 2-for-3 outing that included a triple, RBI and run scored.

King picked up nine hits as a team in the second contest and crossed the plate in all but the second and third innings.

"I think we’re already starting to gel as a team, and our pitching is setting us up to win," said Tornado junior outfielder Teon Richburg, whose game-winning single knocked home Brad Coulter in the bottom of the seventh to give King a 3-2 win in the first game.

The Tornado rallied from a 2-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the sixth to pull out the victory.

Pikeville starter Matt DeBlauw was hit hard in the second contest. DeBlauw allowed eight hits and seven runs (one unearned) in 5 1/3 innings.

King broke the second game open in the fourth.

The Tornado held a slim 2-0 lead when sophomore outfielder Justin Reising knocked in Torrence with a line-drive double that landed near the left-field wall.

Reising scored when sophomore Carlos Stabler hit a sharp single to left field.

Florence then added to the barrage when he smacked a triple down the left-field line with one out in the sixth inning, scoring Cant and Joe Craven and making it 6-0 Tornado.

"We’re having quality at-bats," Conkin said. "They say that pitching is always ahead of hitting this time of the year. But I guess we’re hitting pretty well."

The Tornado and Bears meet up again for a doubleheader that begins at noon today at King.

King 8, Pikeville 0

Pikeville 0 0 0 0 0 0 0—0 1 1

King 2 0 0 2 3 1 X—8 9 0

Pikeville—Fleming 0-3, Fleener 1-3, Quiles 0-2, Adams 0-2, Williamson 0-2, Stacy 0-2, Sublett 0-2, Elmer 0-2, Rakes 0-2.

King—Richburg 1-3, B. Cant 2-3, Craven 1-4, Torrence 2-2, Reising 1-2, Stabler 1-2, Trujillo 0-1, Coulter 0-2, C. Cant 1-3.

WP—Tee Blevins 6 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 aK. LP—Matt DeBlauw 5 1/3 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 2 K.

HR – None.

King 3, Pikeville 2

Pikeville 0 0 0 0 2 0 0—2 6 1

King 0 0 0 0 0 2 1—3 5 0