Pioneers power past

A.C. Reynolds 10-4
From staff reports

ASHEVILLE — Watauga’s baseball team usually asks Baine Martin and Cal Hardee to get on base so power hitter Adam Church can drive them in.

In the fourth inning of Watauga’s 10-4 victory over A.C. Reynolds Tuesday night, Martin and Hardee matched Church’s power at the plate. Martin, Watauga’s lead-off batter, delivered a two-run home run, which was immediately followed by back-to-back solo home runs by Hardee and Church, giving the Pioneers four of their six runs in the inning.

“We knew all year we could do it,” Martin said. “It was just a matter of putting our minds to it. We hit home runs all the time in practice. It’s just a matter of stringing some together.”

The Pioneers had already scored a run on a Chris Shelton RBI fielder’s choice and on a Jake Wallace RBI single. By the time Church had crossed the plate, the Pioneers had scored six runs in the inning and taken a 6-2 lead they would never lose.

“It’s nice to see the bats show up,” Pioneers coach Pete Hardee said. “I was real proud of the way we responded. We got down two runs and I told the team that good teams respond and that’s what they did. We put a lot of numbers up that inning.”

The Pioneers (14-5, 9-1 NWC) stayed in first place of the Northwestern 4-A Conference, one game in the loss column in front of South Caldwell and McDowell. Both teams won Tuesday with South Caldwell beating Freedom 16-5 and McDowell handling East Burke 6-3. South Caldwell plays at McDowell Friday night.

Watauga can clinch a tie for the league championship with a victory at East Burke Friday. It may not be so easy to beat the Cavaliers should they decide to send senior Corey Rhoney to the mound.

The last time Watauga faced Rhoney, which was at Watauga’s field, the Pioneers needed nine innings to scratch out a 1-0 victory. Rhoney and Jon Sharpe battled to a scoreless tie through seven innings.

Sharpe won’t be available Friday since he pitched six innings against Reynolds (10-4, 4-5). The senior right-hander scattered seven hits, allowed three runs (two that were earned) and struck out three.

Sharpe has battled a sore arm recently, but threw 83 pitches Tuesday.

“We tried to limit his pitches to 80 and he threw 83,” Pete Hardee said. “I wanted him to go ahead and finish out that (sixth) inning. Then we came in with some relievers (in the seventh inning) and they came in and got us out of that inning.”

Wallace started the seventh inning, pitched to three batters, and then yielded to Cal Hardee, who finished the game. Hardee is the likely starter Friday against East Burke. Watauga can clinch an outright league championship with a victory over East Burke and a homefield win over Alexander Central next Tuesday.

“We’ve had our struggles down there and we’ll probably see Rhoney on Friday,” Pete Hardee said. “He’s one of the best pitchers in our league, so it will be another challenge for us.”

Watauga’s offense belted out 12 hits against three Reynolds pitchers. Martin, who had two hits, finished with three RBIs and scored two times, while Hardee and David Martin each had two hits. David Martin’s solo home run in the sixth inning was the freshman’s second in as many games. It also was Watauga’s fourth of the game and gave the Pioneers a 10-3 lead.

The Pioneers have hit eight home runs in their last two games. Martin, Church, Kyle Miller and Wallace each belted home runs, all in a 16-run third inning, in Watauga’s 19-2 win over Freedom Monday night.

Wallace also finished with two hits and scored two runs for the Pioneers against A.C. Reynolds.

The Rockets finished with nine hits. Ryan Jones went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and seven other Rockets had at least one hit. Reynolds took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a Jones RBI single and a wild pitch by Sharpe.

Reynolds added a run in the bottom of the fourth on a Treadway single, but Watauga countered with a three-run rally in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Baine Martin, and two unearned runs when Wallace and Martin scored.

Watauga 10, A.C. Reynolds 4
Watauga 000 631 0 — 10 12 1
A.C. Reynolds 002 100 1 — 4 9 2
Sharpe, Wallace (7), Hardee (7) and Church. Pressley, Jones (4), Sluder (7) and Anderson. W—Sharpe (6-1), L—Pressley (4-1). LOB—Watauga 6, A.C. Reynolds 7. 2B—Watauga, Hardee, Shelton; A.C. Reynolds, Risso. Jackson. HR—B. Martin, Hardee, Church, D. Martin. SH—Watauga, Gordon. HBP—Watauga, Church (by Pressley). DP—Watauga 2, A.C. Reynolds 2.