By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City’s high school tennis teams bounced back from season-opening losses to McCracken County by breaking into the win column Tuesday at McKenzie.
The Lady Tornadoes got shutout victories in six of their seven matches on their way to a 7-0 whitewash of the Lady Rebels, while UC’s boys triumphed 4-0 against a shorthanded McKenzie squad.
The wins were the first for first-year head coach Maddie Britt, who assumed her new role after serving as the UC Middle School coach for the past two seasons.
Twins Davey and Dani Frankum, Allie Vincent, and Lexi Petty all recorded 8-0 victories, with the doubles teams of the Frankum sisters and Bertie Jenkins/Josie Ross doing likewise against overmatched opposition.
Kobe Kirk and Byron Abbott won in both singles and doubles play for the Twister boys, and Paul Martin Tohn claimed an 8-2 decision over Davarion Gilbert.
Union City plays its first home match of the season on Thursday vs. Huntingdon.
Girls Singles
Davey Frankum (UC) defeated Ashley Dunavant (M) 8-0
Dani Frankum (UC) defeated Kyla Beveridge (M) 8-0
Bertie Jenkins (UC) defeated Willow Arnold (M) 8-1
Allie Vincent (UC) defeated Caitlyn Hatler (M) 8-0
Lexi Petty (UC) defeated Morgan Little (M) 8-0
Josie Ross (UC) defeated Janyla Piro (M) 8-0
Briley McKinney (UC) defeated Madelynn Pewitt (M) 8-0
Emma Jane Rice (UC) defeated Molly Drewry (M) 8-0
Stella Turner (UC) defeated Raychel Oliver (M) 8-0
Maddie Bailey (UC) defeated Katelyn Prather (M) 8-0
Girls Doubles
Frankum/Frankum (UC) defeated Beveridge/Dunavant (M) 8-0
Jenkins/Ross (UC) defeated Arnold/Hatler (M) 8-0
Vincent/Petty (UC) defeated Pewitt/Oliver (M) 8-0
McKinney/Rice (UC) defeated Piro/Drewry (M) 8-0
Boys Singles
Kobe Kirk (UC) defeated Owen Walker (M) 8-1
Byron Abbott (UC) defeated Caleb Burke (M)8-3
Paul Martin Tohn (UC) defeated Davarion Gilbert (M) 8-2
Boys Doubles
Kirk/Abbott (UC) defeated Walker/Burke (M) 8-0
HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
UC 8, Trenton 5
The Lady Tornadoes erased a 5-2 deficit with three runs in the fifth, then scored three more times in the sixth to provide the winning margin and improve to 2-0.
Whitley Jenkins, Hadley Smith, and Kylee McClure had run-scoring hits to help UC draw even, while Kylie Mayes, Mattie Smith, and Hadley Smith each had key RBIs to help the Twister girls go ahead in the sixth.
Mattie Smith was a difference-maker at the plate (4-for-4 with a double and a triple, three runs scored, and two ribbies) and in the pitching circle (complete-game win with nine strikeouts). Sister Hadley Smith also wielded a big bat with three hits, including a double, and three RBIs).
McClure had two singles to add to the winners’ 13-hit attack, while Kennedi Robinson scored a pair of runs. Jenkins drove in two tallies.
Union City will host Obion Central on Thursday at 5 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
UC 13, Lake Co. 1
Union City (3-2, 2-0) completed a two-game District 14A sweep of the Falcons with its second mercy-rule win in as many days.
Logan Dawkins and Ben Kail combined on a no-hitter, teaming to whiff 13 LC batters while pitching around a half-dozen walks. Dawkins did the heavy lifting as the starter, striking out 11 while throwing 53 of 95 pitches for strikes over five innings. Kail got the final three outs, fanning a pair.
The Tornadoes scored eight times in the first, highlighted by Sam Jones’ bases-loaded double that plated three runs. UC sent 13 batters to the plate in that frame.
In the sixth when the Twisters ended the contest early, they scored via a hit batsman, a single by Copeland Chism, and twice on a Lake County misplay.
Kail and Chism had two RBIs each, and Ben Howell reached base three times for UC, which drew a dozen walks from five Falcon pitches.
Union City will host Tipton Christian Academy on Thursday night at 6:45.
MIDDLE SCHOOL BASEBALL
UC 15, Gibson Co. 0
Brayden Marshall drove in five runs and Preston Creswell fired a three-inning no-hitter for the red-hot Tornadoes in their seventh consecutive win.
Union City scored seven runs in the first and second innings to end the contest early.
Mason St. Germain had a pair of RBIs, while Japheth Caldwell scored three times for the victors. Marshall, Creswell, Grady Gurley, and Kade Ross crossed the plate twice each.
Creswell struck out five and walked two to improve to 4-0. He has not allowed a run this season.
UC is slated to play at West Carroll on Friday at 5 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL TRACK
Union City brought home first-place hardware in girls’ and boys’ competition from the Huntingdon Invitational, besting 13 other schools.
The Lady Tornadoes totaled 117 points to run away from the field that saw Jackson Central-Merry place second with 70 points. UC’s boys had 129 points, with Chester County second with 74.
Jayla Turner won the 400 and was part of a pair of winning relay teams to place the Union City girls. Katana Bonds took first place in the long jump and 100 meters and was also part of a winning relay foursome. Debrionna Jones won both the shot put and the discus for the Twisters.
The 4X800 relay team of Ainsley Beard, Ainsley Sadler, Madie Theobald, and Turner broke the tape first. So, too, did the 4X100 unit of Bonds, Indeya Hogsett, Hayden Marshall, and Chloe Hubbard. A group consisting of Beard, Turner, Marshall, and Hubbard placed first in the 4X400.
Owen Waggoner won the 400 and teamed with Logan Puckett, Rodney Jenkins, and Beck Tanner to win the 4X400 relay for the Tornado boys.
Kyle Price won the discus, and Andre Small led the field in the 200-meter run.
A pair of Union City runners, Beard (800-meter run) and Woodrow McKinnis (1600-meter run) established new school records with standout performances.
“I like where we are right now as we’re close to some of the times we had at the end of the season,” UC head coach Wade Maddox said. “Our goals are to be at the top end of the state with our times and distances when May rolls around.”
HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER
Obion Central 4, UC 1
UC continued its early-season trend of playing well for the majority of a contest but failed to close the deal in a loss to the Rebels.
Central scored all four of its goals in the final 15 minutes to erase a 1-0 Tornado deficit and drop Union City to 0-3.
Juan Carlos Barron scored the Twisters’ lone goal, finding the net on a pretty pass from Khazarion Scates in the first half. Rylan Robinson received a nod from head coach Lazzarus Scribner for his effort on the wing.
Eric Lopez recorded five saves in goal.
Union City will play at Dyer County on Thursday night, the match beginning at 8 o’clock.
MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCCER
Huntingdon 4, UC 1
Union City fell to 1-2 with a loss to the Mustangs.
Carlos Rodriquez had the Tornadoes’ lone goal, drawing UC even at 1-all in the first half.
Huntingdon took a 2-1 lead at the intermission, then scored twice more in the second half to close out the victory.
Michael Vallee had seven saves for the Twisters, who next play at Clarksburg on Thursday at 5 p.m.