By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City’s spring sports teams were victorious in six of eight events on a busy Tuesday afternoon/evening.
The Tornadoes came out on top in middle school golf, middle school girls’ and boys’ tennis, high school baseball, high school girls’ tennis, and boys’ middle school track.
Among the individual highlights was UCHS head baseball coach Cole McAdams notching his 200th victory all-time – 157 of those wins coming in nine seasons at the Golden Tornado helm.
The following is a recap of Tuesday’s action:
MIDDLE SCHOOL TENNIS
UC 7, Northview 0 (G)
UC 6, Northview 0 (B)
Both Tornado teams completed unbeaten seasons, winning all nine of their matches this year.
“I’m so proud of our teams – they gave us everything they had this season, from conditioning to practice to their matches,” head coach Angie Conley said following the season-ending triumphs. “Their hard work and dedication certainly paid off.
“Our veterans led with poise, and our younger players rose to every challenge. I look forward to watching them all continue developing, both at the middle and high school levels.”
Union City posted four shutouts on the boys’ side vs. Northview on Tuesday. The Lady Tornadoes recorded a pair of blankings.
Girls’ Singles
Rylan Ali Bondurant (UC) defeated Lynlee Young (N) 6-0
Averi Riley (UC) defeated Halle Flagg (N) 6-2
Andi Walker (UC) defeated Joey McDowell (N) 6-1
Austyn Dilday (UC) defeated Edie Kate Smith (N) 6-1
Kenslie Taylor (UC) defeated Aaliyah Jones (N) 6-2
Girls’ Doubles
Bondurant/Riley (UC) defeated Young/Flagg (N) 6-0
Walker/Dilday (UC) defeated McDowell/Smith (N) 6-1
Taylor/Carsen Gray (UC) defeated Jones/Jayla Ray (N) 6-0
Emmalyn McClanahan/ Reilly Mears (UC) defeated Brecklyn Jones/Avery Davis (N) 6-0
Boys’ Singles
Kipton Powers (UC) defeated Levi Criswell (N) 6-1
Maddix Turner (UC) defeated Artemas Decker (N) 6-0
Williams Tohn (UC) defeated Jason Harris (N) 6-0
Miloh Turner (UC) defeated Jimmy Harris (N) 6-0
Austin Powell (UC) defeated Artemas Decker (N) 4-1
Wes Worrell (UC) defeated Jimmy Harris (N) 4-0
Boys’ Doubles
Powers/Ma Turner (UC) defeated Criswell/Decker (N) 6-1
Tohn/ Mi Turner (UC) defeated Harris/Harris (N) 6-0
Walton Harder/Armee Jo Wilkins (UC) lost to Harris/Harris (N) 2-3 *Had to call the match due to time
MIDDLE SCHOOL GOLF
UC 102, Obion Co. 121 (G)
UC 193, Obion Co. 224 (B)
Union City beat Obion County for the second day in a row and the fourth time this season – the latest at Wynridge Greens in Troy.
The Tornado boys claimed a 31-stroke victory, carding a 193 to the Rebels’ 224.
Sixth-grader Sam Kissell continued to impress for UC, earning medalist honors with a 39. Garrison Bunch and Stephen Harrell each shot 49, while Hudson Reeves finished with a 56.
Lili Petty – another sixth-grader – again paced the Tornado girls, firing a 45. Teammate Annie Beth Cruce came in with a 57 to give the Union City girls a 102 team total.
OC finished at 121.
Union City will play at Dyersburg next Monday.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
UC 10, Bradford 3
McAdams is now 157-99-1 and the winningest coach in program history after Union City jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and went on to beat the host Red Devils to improve to 17-8 this year.
Copeland Chism, Logan Dawkins, Troy Joslin, Ben Howell, and Sam Jones each drove in a run as the Tornadoes scored twice in the first and three more times in the second.
Dawkins finished 3-for-5 with a double to lead UC batsmen, while Logan Vincent singled twice and scored two times. Howell finished with a pair of RBIs, while Joslin scored three times.
Ben Kail crossed the plate twice.
Union City paired 10 hits with nine walks and a pair of Bradford errors to put steady traffic on the basepaths.
Joslin improved to 6-1 on the mound, toiling six innings with nine strikeouts. The Jackson State signee did not allow an earned run. Kail closed out the contest with an inning of relief.
Tonight’s Senior Night festivities against Humboldt will begin at 5:30 p.m., with first-pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
MIDDLE SCHOOL BASEBALL
UC 5, Greenfield 2
The top-seeded Tornadoes earned a spot in the NWTN Conference championship game tonight at 6 p.m. at Thompson Field with a semifinal win over Greenfield.
Grady Gurley came on in relief of starter Preston Creswell to slam the door on the ‘Jackets, fanning Greenfield’s final batter with the tying run on deck.
Creswell was dominant in 5 2/3 innings, fanning eight while giving up just two hits and one walk to win for the seventh time in eight decisions this season. Neither of the runs charged to the righthander was earned, and he surrendered just one earned run all season in 32 1/3 innings.
Creswell also aided his own cause with a double, a single, and two runs scored offensively. Japheth Caldwell tripled and scored for the victors, Mason St. Germain had a hit and an RBI, and Kade Ross drove in a run.
UC (16-2) will face second-seeded Dresden in tonight’s title tilt.
HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS
UC 7, Huntingdon 0 (G)
Huntingdon 4, UC 3 (B)
The first-place Lady Tornadoes continued their unbeaten run through district play with another shutout and now stand at 12-3 overall heading into Thursday’s match vs. Obion County that could decide the 14A team championship.
Bertie Jenkins’ blanking of Sara Smith in singles play highlighted UC’s shutout. Lexi Petty won 8-1 vs. Celeste Perez before both Lady Twisters’ doubles teams posted 8-3 triumphs.
The Union City boys’ got singles victories from Byron Abbott and Paul Martin Tohn, and a doubles win from the tandem of Tohn and Foster Rodgers but suffered a narrow defeat.
The Tornadoes are now 4-10 heading into Thursday’s match with OC at the Fairgrounds courts.
Girls Singles
Davey Frankum (UC) defeated MK Stevens (H) 8-3
Dani Frankum (UC) defeated Jazmine Seiber (H) 8-3
Bertie Jenkins (UC) defeated Sara Smith (H) 8-0
Allie Vincent (UC) defeated Alayla Johnson (H) 8-2
Lexi Petty (UC) defeated Celeste Perez (H) 8-1
Josie Ross (UC) defeated Lainey Bales (H) 6-1
Briley McKinney (UC) defeated Lila Reed (H) 6-1
Emma Jane Rice (UC) defeated Madisyn Barton (H) 6-2
Stella Turner (UC) defeated Kensley Rich (H) 6-2
Girls’ Doubles
Frankum/Frankum (UC) defeated Stevens/Seiber (H) 8-3
Jenkins/Ross (UC) defeated Smith/Perez (H) 8-3
Vincent/Petty (UC) defeated Johnson/Bales (H) 8-0
McKinney/Rice (UC) defeated Barton/Rich (H) 6-1
Turner/Bailey (UC) defeated Reed/Destani Whitson (H) 6-1
Boys’ Singles
Kobe Kirk (UC) lost to Shawn Simpson (H) 0-8
Byron Abbott (UC) defeated Carter Coleman (H) 8-4
Foster Rodgers (UC) lost to Cole Chafin (H) 4-8
Paul Martin Tohn (UC) defeated Tylan Johnson (H) 8-3
Camden Dawkins (UC) lost to Nolan Foley (H) 2-8
Boys’ Doubles
Kirk/Abbott (UC) lost to Simpson/Coleman (H) 2-8
Rodgers/Tohn (UC) defeated Chafin/Foley (H) 8-8 (7-4 tb)
MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK
UC boys 1st, Lady Tornadoes 4th
The Union City boys totaled 118 points to beat six other schools, while the Lady Tornadoes finished with 60 in an eight-team field in the Dyersburg Middle School Invitational.
Host Dyersburg (104) was the runner-up in the boys’ competition. Dresden won the girls’ portion of the event with 81 points.
UC recorded a number of first- and second-place finishes along with several personal-best efforts, according to head coach Chris Palmer.
The Tornado teams will host the Best of the West in their final meet of the spring on May 2.
DMS Invitational
Individual
Boys Discus
Zaven Thompson 2nd Place 88-8 ft.
Asa Reid 3rd Place 83-8 ft.
Boys Shot
Keiron Mosley 1st Place 40-4 ft. PR
Zaven Thompson 2nd Place 39-1 ft. PR
Boys Long Jump
KJ Buckley 15-1 ft. PR
Boys 1600M
Ricky Pocernich 6:03.12 PR
Boys Hurdles
Amar McCoy 4th Place 19.59
Jayce Mitchell 5th Place 19.74
Boys 100M
BJ Boyd 1st Place 11.42 PR
Kinydee Taylor 12.42 PR
Boys 400M
Ayden Puckett 2nd Place 59.20 PR
Cooper Waggoner 1:04.82 PR
Boys 800M
Matvii Kostanian 4th Place 2:26.59 PR
Cooper Waggoner 5th Place 2:31.08 PR
Boys 200M
BJ Boyd 1st Place 24.13 PR
Kinydee Taylor 4th Place 25.59 PR
Ayden Puckett 6th Place 26.82 PR
Relays
Boys 4X200M
2nd Place 1:40.65 Kinydee Taylor, Amar McCoy, Ayden Puckett, BJ Boyd (Their Best Time of the Season)
Boys 4X100M
3rd Place 48.65 Kinydee Taylor, Amar McCoy, Ayden Puckett, BJ Boyd (Their Best Time of the Season)
Boys 4X400M
3rd Place 4:27.22 Cooper Waggoner, Jayce Mitchell, Ricky Pocernich, Matvii Kostanian (Best Time of the Season)
Girls
Individual
Girls Discus
Ella Jean Hayes 1st Place 64-7 ft.
Aubrii Ross 4th Place 52-3 ft.
Girls Shot
Adriee Christ 1st Place 28-11 ft.
Aubrii Ross 5th Place 24-4.50 ft.
Girls Long Jump
Akeenah Hogsett 1st Place 13-1.50 ft. PR
Maliyah Mitchell 10-4.50 ft. PR
Girls 1600M
Stella Graham 5th Place 6:48.59 PR
Girls 100M
Akeenah Hogsett 14.11 PR
Aryannah Huff 14.50 PR
Maliyah Mitchell 14.59 PR
Girls 400M
McKinley Dean 1:18.99 PR
Lily Scott 1:22.24 PR
Addi Kinyon 1:22.24 PR
Girls 800M
McKinley Dean 3:13.03 PR
Addi Kinyon 3:13.06 PR
Girls 200M
Akeenah Hogsett 30.87 PR
Aryannah Huff 31.68 PR
Relays
Girls 4X200M
2:05.29 Aryannah Huff, Lily Scott, Akeenah Hogsett, Maliyah Mitchell (Their Best Time of the Season)
Girls 4X100M
58.70 Aryannah Huff, Lily Scott, Akeenah Hogsett, Maliyah Mitchell (Their Best Time of the Season)
Girls 4X400M
5:47.27 McKinley Dean, Stella Graham, Journee Bond, Addi Kinyon (Best time of the season for a 4X400 Team)
HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
Dresden 11, UC 2
The Lady Tornadoes were handed their first district defeat in eight games and fell to 11-7 overall as Dresden had a trio of three-run innings.
The Lions scored three times in the first, third, and fourth and pounded out 14 hits to avenge a 14A loss to UC last week.
Mattie Smith doubled and singled for the Twister girls. Kennedi Robinson scored both Union City runs, and Addison Carr and Hadley Smith were credited with RBIs.
Mattie Smith (7-3) was tagged with the pitching loss, surrendering 10 earned runs.
UC will host Greenfield for a doubleheader on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER
Westview 5, UC 2
Marcos Landeros scored Union City’s first goal of the match off an assist from Silverio Acevedo, while Alex Landeros accounted for the Twisters’ other tally after taking a feed from his brother, Marcos.
Westview scored a pair of penalty kick goals in the first half, then netted all its goals after the intermission when the Tornadoes were down one player for 15 minutes and two players for the final 15 minutes, via red cards, according to head coach Lazzarus Scribner.
Juan Carlos Barron and Khazarion Scates – playing midfield for the first time together this season – received praise from Scribner afterward.
Scribner also lauded the efforts of Luis Maldonado for stepping in for injured Eric Lopez in goal.
Union City (5-6) will return to action Thursday at Trenton before playing host to Obion Central on Friday evening.