By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
A fifth-inning defensive meltdown against University School-Johnson City has painted Union City into a corner in the Class 1A state baseball tournament.
UC committed three costly errors that led to the Buccaneers scoring four runs in that fateful frame, erasing a 3-1 Tornado lead and bumping the Twisters to the loser’s bracket with a 5-3 loss Wednesday night at Eagleville High School.
The bitter setback forces Union City (25-9) into an elimination game at 10 this morning against East Robertson (23-9), a 12-2 mercy-rule loser to three-time reigning state champion Eagleville in Wednesday’s first game.
Should the Tornadoes bounce back this morning, they would play the loser of the Eagleville-University School game in another do-or-die contest this afternoon at 5.
Union City, which entered the contest riding a 12-game winning streak, was seemingly in a good spot in Wednesday’s first-round contest against last year’s state runner-up, ahead 3-1 after tallying three times in the second.
Logan Dawkins doubled, and Tucker Davis slapped a single to set the stage for the Twisters to get on the scoreboard. Dawkins came home on a US-JC error for UC’s first run, before courtesy runner Kobe Maddox dashed safely to the plate on a wild pitch.
Troy Joslin’s fielder’s choice grounder drove home Logan Vincent and gave the Tornadoes a 3-0 lead.
The Buccaneers got one of those runs back in the bottom of the second to cut the difference to 3-1, and the score stayed that way until the fifth.
US-JC actually swung the momentum in its favor with a perfectly executed defensive play in the top of the inning, cutting down a Union City baserunner at the plate from the outfield.
Then, the Bucs pieced together two hits and three untimely Twister misplays in the field to chase home four runs in a rally that essentially decided the outcome.
“I really thought the momentum changed with us being thrown out at home in the top of that fifth inning,” UC head coach Cole McAdams said after the contest. “Then they got the ball past us a couple of times in the bottom of the inning at critical times, and we just never could recover.
“Anytime you have number-one pitchers from both teams throwing, there’s always a lot of zeroes put on the scoreboard. Every mistake is magnified, and there aren’t normally a lot of offensive opportunities for either team. Tonight, they took advantage of the couple we gave them, and we weren’t able to tack onto our lead with the one other chance we had.”
Offense was sporadic for both teams as each collected just four hits. Ben Howell reached three times for UC with a single and a pair of walks. Dawkins, Davis, and Copeland Chism had the Tornadoes’ other hits.
Joslin (9-2) was the hard-luck loser after allowing but one earned run and striking out 10 while going the distance on the hill.