Tennessee High Blanks Virginia High, 13-0

BRISTOL, Va. – It was a barrage. Hits shot out and runs poured through. Singles were sliced, doubles were hammered. By the time it was over, it was 13-0 Tennessee High. And it only took five innings.
The Vikings shut out the Virginia High Bearcats on Wednesday evening at DeVault Memorial Stadium. Tennessee High collected 12 hits and nine walks, terrorizing a young Bearcats squad and punishing three Virginia High pitchers.

Chase Cunningham led the Vikings’ (23-8) attack. Cunningham went 2 for 2 with two doubles, two walks and two RBIs. He smoked the ball twice. And his last hit of the game, a double to deep center field, scored two runs and was the last bit of damage Tennessee High was allowed to commit before the game was called.

Cunningham said a team-maintained statistics chart kept in the dugout recording individual hits and runs as points is a key for a Vikings offensive assault that shredded the Bearcats’ hurlers.

“It’s like a little competition,” Cunningham said. “It helps us out.”

Vikings starter Chris Upright also enjoyed the competition. Upright threw five innings of five-hit, no-run ball in a winning decision to improve to 4-0. He used both sides of the plate and kept his pitches low, giving up nothing more than scattered singles to the Bearcats’ lineup. When Virginia High did make hard contact, the Bearcats’ shots were tracked down and erased by Tennessee High’s speedy outfield defense.

“It’s huge,” Upright said. “Our defense is a huge part of our team.”

Vikings coach Gill Payne spent the postgame cool down reflecting on a word his resilient group has used often as of late: destiny. Payne said Tennessee High believes there must be a reason why it began the season with a frustrating 1-5 start. And there must also be a reason – destiny – why the Vikings have rolled off 22 victories in their last 25 contests, peaking just as the 1-AAA district tournament approaches.

“That’s a heck of a run for high school baseball,” Payne said.

Payne added: “We didn’t go 1-5 for nothing. We learned from that, and there’s a reason for it.”

Meanwhile, Virginia High coach Mark Daniels conceded his Bearcats have better days ahead. But Daniels admitted he was already questioning how his team would bounce back from Wednesday’s thrashing. And he praised the Vikings’ disciplined approach at the plate, as well as Tennessee High’s polished overall performance.

“They got the hits when they needed them. They ended three innings with double plays,” Daniels said. “They’re playing the kind of baseball you need to be playing going into the playoffs.”

Tennessee High held a 2-0 lead after two innings. Then the Vikings broke out the big bats, unleashing a seven-run five-hit third inning highlighted by Jarrod Payne’s long RBI double to right field. The Vikings batted around in the frame and knocked Virginia High starting pitcher Jarred Tate out of the game.

Daniels said Wednesday night was not a good one for the Bearcats. Tate said he was already looking toward the future.

“The past is the past,” said Tate, who took the loss. “We have a ton of team chemistry and I think we’ll do fine.”

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Tennessee High 13, Virginia High 0
Tennessee High 117 13–13 12 1
Virginia High 000 00–0 5 3
Tate, Paolucci (3), Arnett (4) and Chafin. Upright and Crockett. WP—Upright. LP—Tate.