On a night more fitting for a bonfire and hot chocolate than a seven-inning baseball game, the Elizabethton Cyclones were looking to have a normal day at the office, but the Unicoi County Blue Devils proved to be more aggravating than what the Cyclones could handle.

With southpaw Caleb Wilson keeping the Cyclone bats in check for six plus innings, the Blue Devils managed to climb the ladder in Three Rivers Conference play with a convincing 12-3 win over the Cyclones at Joe O’Brien Field.

“Caleb has set the tone all year on the mound,” said Unicoi Co. head coach Chad Gillis. “He’s thrown conference games, he has thrown against Sevier Co., and he has done well. That’s why I started him tonight.

“We needed a win, and we have a lot of confidence in him,” Gills continued. “He keeps his composure. We had some defensive woes, but we got it done.”

Elizabethton clanged the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second as John Lee slapped a single and courtesy runner Ryan Wetzel moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Drew Wetzel’s base hit accounted for an RBI and a 1-0 Cyclone lead.

The Blue Devils took control from there scoring five in the third, two each in the fifth and sixth, and three in the seventh to get a little revenge from a 6-5 Cyclone win in Erwin earlier in the season.

Elizabethton did put up two runs in the bottom of the sixth as Drew Wetzel and Ethan Eggleston crossed the dish as Wetzel singled and Eggleston walked to get on base. A throwing error allowed Wetzel to score and Eggleston dashed home on another error on a ball hit by Corey Russell.

Gillis called on Shaddon Peavyhouse in the seventh as Wilson tired and Peavyhouse proceeded to set down the Cyclones on three consecutive strikeouts to end the game with Cyclones filling the bags.

“Our guys didn’t make the adjustments,” said Cyclone head coach Ryan Presnell. “The guy (Wilson) is throwing strikes—he is working two or three pitches for strikes and as hitters you have to see what the pitcher is doing against you, and you have to learn from it and make adjustments. We just didn’t do that.

“These guys come out and they battle with every pitch, and they have had a different attitude since we came together in the fall,” added Presnell. “Do I believe they came out flat—no I don’t believe they came out flat. I do believe they came out mentally unable to make the adjustments that they needed to make.”

With the win, the Blue Devils ran their record to 7-7 overall and 4-3 in conference play. The Cyclones record fell to 8-6 overall and 5-2 in conference play, good enough for second place behind Sullivan South.

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Unicoi Co. ……. 005 022 3 – 12  12  4

Elizabethton….. 010 002 0 –   3    4  2

Caleb Wilson, Shaddon Peavyhouse (7) and Hunter Higgins. Elijah Andrews, Ethan Eggleston (3), Tre Shoun (4), Brodie Adams (5), Matthew Dailey (7) and John Lee. WP: Caleb Wilson. LP: Elijah Andrews.