BY Nic Miller

STAR CORRESPONDENT

The Elizabethton Cyclones junior varsity ball club was back in action Wednesday night at Joe O’Brien field as they hosted the Wolcott Eagles of Wolcott, Connecticut.

The game, being an interstate matchup, wasn’t a critical contest for the Cyclones. However, Elizabethton still wanted the win in Wednesday night’s affair.

In a low-scoring game, Wolcott came out on top behind a strong performance on the mound by two efficient pitchers which led to a 3-1 victory.

From the get-go, it seemed like the game was going to be a runaway for the Eagles who had traveled 13 hours to face a talented ‘Betsy JV squad in a tour of Northeast Tennessee.

The Eagles started off the game driving in three runs in the very first frame of the ball game. In the home half of the inning, the Cyclones couldn’t answer back as the first three batters were sat down.

In the second inning of the game, ‘Betsy starting pitcher Will Livingston was relieved by freshman Austin Burchfield who managed to get the Cyclones out of trouble allowing two hits in the inning but not allowing the Eagles to cross the plate for the remainder of the game.

In the bottom half of the second inning, first baseman Padraig Murphy got on base following an error by the Wolcott shortstop.

Murphy made it to third base but couldn’t get any farther as the Eagle’s third baseman made an unbelievable diving catch on a line drive off the bat of Ethan Meier to get the final out of the inning.

Burchfield made sure the Eagles knew he wasn’t messing around in the top of the third as he recorded his first of five strikeouts in the game.

The Eagles had nothing left on the offensive side of the ball resulting in three quick outs.

The same could be said for the Cyclones getting their first hit of the contest but couldn’t get a run across.

The fourth inning was more of the same for both teams as Burchfield sat down two more batters, and the Cyclones got hit with three quick outs in the home half of the inning.

The fifth inning showed signs of turning into a defensive battle as a run had not been scored since the opening stanza.

Burchfield sent his fourth and fifth batter back to the dugout, while ‘Betsy still couldn’t get anything to go right for them in the bottom of the frame.

It seemed as if the Cyclones JV squad had found a little extra in the tank in the bottom of the sixth.

Burchfield started the home half of the inning by getting on base with a single and later making it to second on a wild pitch.

Jacob Mullins came through big driving Burchfield in for the Cyclones first run on an RBI single.

The ‘Betsy ball club was not giving up just yet.

In the final inning of play, the Eagles were again sat down quickly. The Cyclones, however, were on a mission to pull off some late game heroics.

Caleb Tipton started off the final inning with a shot to left center field that rolled to the wall. With Tipton on second, Clayton Merritt reached first base on an error by the Wolcott shortstop. Burchfield came to bat with two outs and runners on first and second base. After a hard battle at the plate, Burchfield hit a fly ball to left field barely in reach of the left fielder that put a halt to any chances of a comeback to end the game heartbreakingly for Elizabethton.

The Cyclones JV team will be back in action Friday afternoon as they travel to Erwin to take on the Unicoi County Blue Devils.