Shocker: Tennessee High Upset By David Crockett

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – It was over. Just like that. No more destiny. No more victories. No more games, period.

Tennessee High’s season ended Saturday evening, as the No. 3-seed Vikings fell to No. 6 David Crockett, 6-5, in the 1-AAA district tournament at Sullivan Central High School.

Tears poured down the faces of many of the Vikings following the loss, while others slumped in the dugout, heads down and bodies shaking.

“We weren’t expecting it for sure,” Tennessee High coach Gill Payne said. “But that’s baseball. That’s tournament baseball, for sure. That’s the way it goes.”

The Vikings came into the contest having won 22 of their last 25 games and were riding high and strong after blanking cross-town rival Virginia High, 13-0, Wednesday.

But Tennessee High walked off the field shocked and stunned.

The Vikings (23-9) jumped out to a 2-0 lead against the Pioneers and led 3-2 heading into the fourth inning. But two Crockett (17-14) home runs off Tennessee High starter Jon Krebs in the final three innings were the difference. Clint Freeman gave the Pioneers a 4-3 advantage when he smoked a line drive over the right-center field fence for a two-run blast in the top of the fifth. A solo shot by Jacob
Berry in the sixth made it 6-4 Crockett.

“Every year you come up here in the first round of this tournament in the Big Nine [Conference] and it’s a dogfight,” Pioneers coach Scott Hagy said. “I don’t care what seed you are or how you had been playing to that point – and we’d struggled the last several weeks; they had beaten us pretty bad both times this year – I’m extremely proud of our kids for the way they battled.”

Brandon Massey picked up a complete-game victory for Crockett, mixing low fastballs with off-speed pitches that tailed away, and added an RBI single.

Stephen Mullins led the Vikings with three hits and three RBIs, while Jarrod Payne and Krebs contributed doubles. Krebs took the loss.

Tennessee High rallied in the bottom of the seventh, pulling within 6-5 when Stephen Mullins’ line-drive single to right field scored Krebs. The Vikings then loaded the bases with two outs. But Crockett killed the rally and ended a Tennessee High season that had seen the Vikings rise up from a 1-5 start to become one of the dominant teams in the Big Nine.

“We’ll talk about that when we get back to Bristol, [Tenn.],” Payne said. “Right now, we’re just going to get our stuff and go on. We’ll meet back in our locker room and we’ll – I’m sure it will take a few days but we’ll be all right. These kids have grown a lot.”

David Crockett 6, Tennessee High 5
David Crockett 002 031 0—6 10 0
Tennessee High 201 010 1—5 10 2
Massey and Deloach. Krebs and Snyder. WP—Massey. LP—Krebs. HR: DC – Freeman (one on in 5th), Berry (solo in 6th).

Sullivan East 11, Daniel Boone 7

The No. 7-seed Patriots turned a six-run fifth inning into an upset victory, knocking off No. 2 Daniel Boone.

East racked up 12 hits and scored in every inning except the second and fourth. Kevin Love led the Patriots (14-14) with a 2-for-4 outing and five RBIs, while Hunter Smith went 3 for 4 with four RBIs. Love and Smith each went deep.

Desmond Greer picked up the victory, throwing six innings and holding the Trailblazers scoreless from the second through the sixth.

“You play all year for this day and we did what we had to do,” Sullivan East coach Mike Breuninger said. “We came out and we hit the ball and Des went out and pitched his normal game. He gave us a lot of energy and the kids got the job done.”

The Patriots held an 11-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. Then Boone put up five runs. But East held – and moved – on.

The Patriots match up against David Crockett at 4:30 p.m. today. Breuninger said he likes his team’s chances.

“You get by the first round, you get in this double-elimination and it’s wide open,” Breuninger said. “We feel like we’ve got a good chance to win this thing.”

Fifth-seed Sullivan South downed No. 4-seed Dobyns-Bennett, 5-1. Saturday’s final game between No. 9 Sullivan Central and No. 1 Science Hill ran too late for deadline.

Sullivan East 11, Daniel Boone 7
Sullivan East 101 061 2—11 12 4
Daniel Boone 200 000 5—7 6 0
Greer, Buchanan (7) and Harrington. Connell, C. Connell (5) and Chandley. WP—Greer. LP—Connell. HR: SE – Smith (solo in 6th), Love (one on in 7th).

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