ERWIN— After beating Unicoi County at Joe O’Brien Field Monday night, the Elizabethton Cyclones looked to sweep the Unicoi County Blue Devils in Erwin Tuesday evening.

This game meant a little extra for the Cyclones, though, as a win would help clinch first place atop the Three Rivers Conference.

With the help of three home runs and thirteen total strikeouts, the Cyclones put the Blue Devils away in a non-dramatic fashion, dispatching them 7-0 Tuesday night.

The Cyclones wasted no time scoring as the second batter in the lineup, Bryson Rollins, hit a two-run shot following a single from the lead-off hitter Karson Dillard.

Only a few batters after Rollins made it 2-0 Cyclones, starting pitcher Matthew Dailey hit a long ball of his own to put Elizabethton up by three runs.

The scoring didn’t stop there, though, as freshman Jaden Anderson hit a double that brought Lawson Wagner around to score. After a half inning that must have felt like a century for the Blue Devils, the Cyclones were already up 4-0.

The second inning of play seemed like it was going to be a repeat of the first after Nico Ashley crossed the plate on a wild pitch that couldn’t be corralled by the catcher. However, that was the only run that ‘Betsy would record for the inning.

After already excelling at the plate, Dailey was just getting started, recording his first two of many strikeouts on the night in the second inning.

With a five-run lead after two innings, Elizabethton wasn’t looking back.

After not getting anything going in their half of the third inning, the Cyclones remained determined on shutting the Devils out.

Dailey recorded his third strikeout of the game after pitcher Peyton Whitson of Unicoi County went down swinging in the third inning.

The fourth inning brought another Cyclone home run with it, as junior Karson Dillard hit a solo shot over the left fielder’s head and into the road putting Elizabethton up 6-0.

In the bottom half of the inning, Dailey was still going strong sitting down his fourth and fifth batter of the night via strikeouts.

The fifth inning was more Cyclones as senior Evan Perkins reached base on a walk and later crossed the plate after a single into the outfield by Wagner made the score 7-0 in favor of the Cyclones.

The Devils had enough as Kaleb Metcalf came in to relieve starting pitcher Whitson following the RBI.

Dailey was awarded his sixth strikeout of the night in the fifth inning as he struck out the lead-off batter.

There were no more runs scored by either team in the sixth or seventh inning. However, Dailey recorded six more strikeouts in the final two innings of play.

After striking out his 12th batter, Dailey’s pitch count was up and had to be relieved by senior relief pitcher Wagner who made light work of the final batter.

Wagner ended the game throwing only four pitches, and recording a strikeout.

The Cyclones were firing on all cylinders ending the game with 13 strikeouts and allowing only two hits, ending the game with a 7-0 victory over the Blue Devils and clinching first place in the Three Rivers Conference.

When asked about clinching the number one seed in the conference, Elizabethton head coach Ryan Presnell said, “the goal is to make it back to Murfreesboro, and having the one seed is very important because now we only have to win two games to move forward out of districts, and moving forward that seeding is going to mean a lot.”

The Cyclones will be back in action Thursday night at Jefferson County and will be hosting the Patriots at Joe O’Brien FIeld Friday night.