Cyclones fall to Crockett in heartbreaking fashion
Published 12:02 am Tuesday, March 17, 2020
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Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Elizabethton relief pitcher Nico Ashley fires an offering to the plate.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Peyton Johnson gets set to rifle a pitch to the dish in a relief pitcher role for EHS.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Cyclone infielder Ashton Wilson corrals a ground ball in Friday's game against David Crockett.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Cyclone infielder Jaden Anderson goes into the outfield grass to chase down a hit ball.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Elizabethton outfielder Nico Ashley gets ready to squeeze his glove around a ball for an out.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Starting pitcher Karson Dillard takes a peek over to first base to keep a Crockett baserunner close.
BY NIC MILLER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
Elizabethton- As the weather begins to feel like springtime, the first week of high school baseball around the region has been off to an exciting start.
One team looking to turn some heads once again this year, the Elizabethton Cyclones, were back at Joe O’Brien field Friday evening for their second home game of the regular season against the Pioneers of David Crockett.
The Cyclones were off to a hot start in the first as after Karson Dillard was able to pitch his way out of an RBI situation, Gage Treadway was able to bring a run in and a wild pitch extended the score to a 2-0 Elizabethton lead.
Dillard was able to hold off the Pioneers once again in the second as he notched his first strikeout of the game on the way. However, it was the same story in the home half as Betsy was also held to zero.
Dillard kept the stellar performance going as he once again kept the Pioneers off the board in the third. Heading into the fourth, the Cyclones kept the slight advantage, 2-0.
In the fourth, freshman Peyton Johnson relieved Dillard and kept the performance going, but on the other hand, the Cyclones were also not able to manufacture a run, maintaining their 2-0 lead after four.
The Pioneers were finally able to break the goose egg in the fifth thanks to an RBI single from Kaleb Swanson to bring two runners across the plate, tying the game. But it didn’t end there as Hayden Osburn would send a pitch past the left fielder to bring three more runs across.
After it was all said and done, the Pioneers took the lead heading into the bottom of the fifth, 6-2.
The Cyclones were able to cut into the deficit in the sixth after a sac fly from Ashton Wilson made it a 6-3 ball game in favor of the Pioneers.
The seventh inning was a quick end to the game as neither team was able to start the bats, giving the Pioneers of David Crockett the win by a final score of 6-3.
Although it was a tough loss for the Cyclones, head coach Ryan Presnell had good things to say about this game, “We showed some scrap at the end. While that was good, we need to do that throughout the whole game.
“We were swinging like crazy, which isn’t a bad thing but when we do that we need to make contact, so we’re gonna be working on things like that moving forward.”
And while the Cyclones have had a rocky start, Presnell said, “This week was good for us. We’re only three games in, we still have ninety percent of the season to go so we still have time to find our true potential and find our groove. We’re gonna get to work and get to the place we need to be at.”
