The wild and wacky world of baseball in the Three Rivers Conference appears that it will provide more thrills than riding the Batman roller coaster at Six Flags over Georgia this season.

After starting the season 0-2, the Happy Valley Warriors are on one wild ride as the Warriors extended their winning streak to eight games with a nail biting, down-to-the-wire finish against the Unicoi County Blue Devils taking the contest 5-4.

“I am so proud of our team tonight,” said Happy Valley head coach Brad Hill. “We played with great energy from the get-go. It would have been easy being down 4-1 to a good team like Unicoi Co. to kind of hang your heads a little bit, but they didn’t and they fought back.

“They are a really resilient team and great kids, and I love to be around them.”

Happy Valley (3-2, 8-2) took the early lead 1-0 as leadoff batter Taylor Hurley reached on a walk and stole second base. A 4-3 groundout from Tyler Hurley pushed Hurley to third base where he would score on a sacrifice fly by catcher Bailey Conley.

The Blue Devils (2-3, 5-5) wasted little time as they responded with four runs in the top of the second inning.

A fielder’s choice by Justin Laughren, a walk to Hunter Higgins and a hit batter for Gabe Thomas jacked the bases full of Blue Devils.

Owen Nicholson ripped a double to clear the bases. The Devils weren’t done, however, as Nick Fender laced a single and Shaddon Peavyhouse drove Nicholson home for the fourth run of the frame to give the Blue Devils a 4-1 lead.

The Hurley’s were in the mix once again as Taylor singled and took second on a bad throw. Tyler’s single plated Taylor to cut the lead to 4-2.

Ryne Baines tore into a single to score Tyler Hurley after Hurley had stolen second to make it a 4-3 contest at the end of three complete.

After holding the Blue Devils at bay in the top of the fourth, the Warriors tied the score and took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Warrior third baseman Alton Clark got things rolling by beating a throw to first for a single. A sacrifice bunt by Skyler Hyatt moved Clark to second.

A passed ball allowed Clark to scoot to third base. Taylor Hurley picked Clark up with a RBI single to tie the game at 4-4.

A Hurley stolen base followed by a balk by Unicoi Co. starting pitcher Dylan Putnam all of a sudden had Hurley standing at third base.

Tyler Hurley then tore into a Putnam offering for a double to score Taylor Hurley from third and give the Warriors the 5-4 advantage.

Meanwhile, starting Warrior pitcher Dustin Sams continued his solid work by getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and another small log jam in the sixth with runners at second and third.

“Dustin did a great job of working himself out of some jams he put himself in,” stated Hill. “He’s a tough kid mentally and physically, and I am proud of the way he pitched tonight.”

With a 5-4 lead and one out in the top of the seventh, Hill elected to go to Ian Scruggs to put a lid on the contest. Scruggs didn’t disappoint as he struck out both Blue Devil batters he faced with the tying run standing on second base.

The Blue Devils collected nine hits to only six for the Warriors, but the deciding stat came in the error column where Unicoi Co. had three for the contest at key times in the contest.

Sams gave up four runs on nine hits while striking out six and walking two batters. Sams threw 102 pitches in the game with 65 going for strikes.

Losing pitcher Putnam gave up five runs on five hits striking out two Warriors and issuing three walks. Relief pitcher Clay Simpson went two and two-thirds of an inning issuing no runs, one hit, one walk and five strikeouts.

“It’s a really significant win for us because it puts us over .500 in the conference,” said Hill. “It’s a big win that can help us out on down the road when things start to get tight and we get into crunch time. It’s always good to get a win, especially when it’s in the conference.”

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Unicoi Co. ……. 040 000 0 – 4  9  3

Happy Valley…..102 200 x – 5  6  2

Dylan Putnam, Clay Simpson (4) and Hunter Higgins. Dustin Sams, Ian Scruggs (7) and Bailey Conley. WP: Dustin Sams. LP: Dylan Putnam. SV: Ian Scruggs.