Watauga opens tourney

with win over McDowell
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Two Watauga mainstays — pitching and defense — showed up for the Pioneers against McDowell in the first round of the Northwestern 4-A Conference Tournament. Joining them was hitting, which has been inconsistent this year.

When Watauga did all three, it added up to a 10-1 thumping Thursday of the Titans, which beat Watauga 3-1 in April.

A lack of offense would not be a problem Thursday night. Watauga (15-9) rapped out 14 hits, while Pioneers starter Tyler Moore made sure that the Titans would struggle from the plate. Moore limited Watauga to one first-inning run, and did not allow a runner past first base the rest of the game.

Moore did not overpower the Titans (7-17) — he finished with just three strikeouts. But after the second inning, he retired 18-of-20 batters. The exceptions were an infield single by Jeremy Freeman in the second inning, and when Colby Brown reached on an error in the fifth.

“They hit the ball really well,” Moore, who struggled in his last start against the Titans, said Thursday.

“They’re good at seeing the ball out of the hand and sitting back and last time, I was struggling with my mechanics. Today, I was just trying to work fast. I wasn’t worried about the Ks. I just wanted to get the outs and get the win for my team.”

Moore didn’t need much offense to stake the Pioneers to a win, but his teammates did more than their share anyway. Watauga, leading 2-1, scored four runs in the third inning, two more in the fourth and three others in the fifth, taking a 10-1 lead.

Watauga scored all those runs without hitting a home run. Baine Martin went 4-for-4, including a two-run single in the third inning, and had an RBI in the fourth on an infield single.

“I was just doing what I can to get on base,” Martin said. “I was trying to hit it hard and hit it in the right place.”

Close to matching Martin’s numbers was Cal Hardee, who had three hits, scored a run and drove in a run with a single in the fifth.

Ethan Moyer scored three runs, including one on a fielder’s choice by Adam Church in the first inning.

Moyer also scored on Martin’s infield single in the fourth and on Hardee’s fifth-inning single.

Moyer wasn’t finished. He drove in Jake Wallace, who reached base with his fifth-inning double. Trey Dunnigan also had two singles, one that drove in a run in the first inning. Austin Story smacked an RBI double in the third inning and Trey Lowder added an RBI single in the third inning.

“We’ve got kids going opposite field,” Pioneers coach Pete Hardee said. “They’ve learned that it’s been a tough season, hitting-wise for us. But they’ve learned along the way and it’s fun to watch guys listen to the coach and have it work out for them.”

Even though the Pioneers made two errors, they also made tough play after tough play, particularly in the infield. Moyer at third base, Hardee shortstop and second baseman Chris Shelton all had to make throws that were either on a dead run or across their bodies.

“I’ve got a great defense behind me,” Moore said. “Church calls a great game for me every time and it’s fun to go out and go up seven.”

Watauga 10, McDowell 1
McDowell 100 000 0 — 1 3 1
Watauga 204 220 X — 10 14 2
Johnson, Thompson (3), Miller (6) and Rowe. Moore and Church. W—Moore (5-4), L—Johnson (0-7). LOB—McDowell 3, Watauga 6. 2B—McDowell, Johnson; Watauga, Moyer, Story, Wallace. 3B—Watauga, Moyer. HBP—Watauga, Church (by Thompson). CS—Watauga, Martin.