By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City’s baseball and girls’ tennis teams are headed back to Murfreesboro.
The Tornado entries punched their tickets to their respective state tournaments with impressive performances on Thursday, rolling to sectional triumphs against overwhelmed opponents.
UC baseball hammered outmanned Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering (MASE) 15-0 and 18-0 in a pair of mercy-rule mismatches to sweep their best-of-three series 2-0.
The Twisters (25-8), who made the state tourney a year ago, needed just three innings in Game 1 and just one at-bat in the nightcap to pile on the Phoenix and run their winning streak to 12 games.
Union City thus qualified for the state tournament for the 12th time in program history and will face University School of Johnson City on Tuesday night at 6:30 at Eagleville High School in Round 1 of the double-elimination event. US-JC was the Class 1A runner-up to reigning three-time champion Eagleville a year ago.
The Lady Tornado tennis team, meanwhile, was impressive in securing its fourth consecutive trip to the state’s Final 4 with a 4-0 whitewash of visiting Lakeland Prep at the UC Middle School courts.
Union City – five times state runners-up, including each of the past three seasons – will carry a 16-4 record into Tuesday’s semifinal matchup against defending champ and longtime nemesis Summertown. The Lady Eagles have defeated UC in the finals in each of the last three seasons.
Union City will be making its 12th all-time state tournament trip, including its fifth in the past seven years, when it meets Summertown on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesboro.
The winner will advance to the state championship match on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
BASEBALL
UC 15-18, MASE 0-0
The mismatch was apparent from the start as the Tornadoes dominated against a Memphis entry, which struggled with basic fundamentals and failed to collect a single hit in either game.
MASE managed just one baserunner, and he was erased on the bases.
Of the visitors’ nine batters in Game 1 against Troy Joslin, eight struck out. Joslin (9-1) retired the other Phoenix hitter on a comebacker.
Logan Dawkins (7-2) faced just three batters in the nightcap, fanning two.
UC’s offense in both games came via a collection of hits, walks, hit batters, passed balls, and wild pitches. The Twisters combined to steal 45 bases – mostly against defensive indifference.
Joslin, who went 3-for-3 with three runs in the opener, doubled. So did Ben Kail and Copeland Chism, each of whom drove in a pair of runs.
Logan Vincent went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Sam Jones scored three times, and Chism and Dawkins each crossed the plate twice.
MASE recorded just two outs in the second game before it halted via the mercy rule.
Chism and Grissom Hutchison had doubles. Chism drove in three runs, Dawkins and Joslin accounted for a pair of ribbies apiece, and Kail scored three times. Jack Theobald scored twice, as did Ben Howell and Jones.
MASE ends its season with a 7-8 record.
TENNIS
UC 4, Lakeland Prep 0
The Lady Tornadoes, who earlier won the program’s 28th district title and sixth in a row, followed up their regional shutout of Scotts Hill with the blanking of another postseason foe.
Union City was keenly focused and showed superior shot-making in each of its matches against LP on Thursday, ending play in just over an hour.
The contest was stopped after straight-set singles wins by Davey Frankum, Bertie Jenkins, Allie Vincent, and Lexi Petty, giving Union City four victories to clinch the outcome.
Petty blitzed Sophia Yeoward at the No. 5 spot, taking all 12 games in their match. Vincent was in control, too, winning 6-2, 6-0 against Savannah Meece.
Third-seeded Jenkins was plenty good to beat Madison Flemming 6-3, 6-1 to give UC a commanding 3-0 lead before No. 1 seed Davey Frankum closed out the match with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Jenna Cowell.
Dani Frankum had dropped her first set against Naomi Brown in a tiebreaker (7-5) when the match was called.