Mike Hutchens
Communications Director
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
UC 5-4, Ripley 4-6
Union City recorded its first District 14-2A baseball victory in the opener of a Thursday doubleheader, erasing an early 4-0 deficit and scoring the deciding run when Grady Gurley raced home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth.
Ben Howell picked up his third pitching win with a complete-game effort that included seven strikeouts and just four hits allowed. None of Ripley’s four first-inning runs were earned as the Tornadoes committed a pair of errors and had a dropped third strike.
Brayden Marshall’s two-run triple in the bottom of the inning got UC right back into the contest, and Marshall later drove in the tying run in the fifth with a single that scored Jack Theobald.
Marshall reached base three times with two hits and a walk, while Theobald, who made an outstanding defensive play late in left field, scored two runs.
Ripley turned the tables on the Twisters in the nightcap, rallying for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to salvage a sweep of the twinbill.
Theobald, Marshall, and Preston Creswell had two hits apiece for Union City, with Theobald crossing the plate twice. Creswell and Howell each stroked doubles.
Mason St. Germain pitched into the sixth and was tagged with the loss. Creswell relieved and got the final two outs.
Now 8-20 overall and 1-7 in league play, UC will celebrate Senior Day today against Lake County, beginning at 4:45.
Adrian Crawford will head to Knoxville in mid-May looking for more track and field gold.
Union City’s five-time state champion earned the right to defend a decathlon title he won a year ago by running away with the Class 1A sectional championship on Tuesday in Memphis.
Crawford claimed first place in seven of 10 events and finished no lower than fourth in the other three over a two-day period at Halle Stadium, easily outdistancing runner-up finisher Darius Gates Johnson of Memphis Rise Academy Charter School.
UC’s Tayshun Gentry and Jaydyn Sims also competed, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. The top two finishers in each of the state’s three sectionals advance on to state competitions, along with six wild-card entries.
A.C. racked up 5,934 points, exactly 1,000 more than Johnson, who also qualified for the state competition, which will be held at Hardin Valley Academy in Knoxville, May 13 and 14.
Crawford led the field in the 100 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, 110 hurdles, the long jump, and the discus. He finished second in the pole vault, third in the triple jump, and fourth in the 1500 meters.
Adrian was the state runner-up in the event as a sophomore before winning the championship last year in Clarksville.
HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
UC 4, Peabody 2
Kylie Mayes singled in the go-ahead run, and the Lady Tornadoes clinched second place in District 14-2A with a Senior Day triumph.
UC (9-9, 5-3) trailed 2-0 after Peabody hit a two-run homer in its first at-bat, but the Twister girls responded with a run in the second, two in the fourth, and an insurance tally in the sixth.
Kylee McClure had a pair of hits, and Maddie Steward drove in two runs and scored another for the victors.
Mattie Smith gave up a two-run homer to the second batter of the game, but nothing else the rest of the way to notch her ninth pitching win. Smith struck out five and scattered six hits.
Smith, Addison Carr, and Whitley Jenkins were honored in Senior Day ceremonies before the contest.
Union City will play at Dresden on Thursday.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
UC 5-4, Ripley 4-6
Union City recorded its first District 14-2A baseball victory in the opener of a Thursday doubleheader, erasing an early 4-0 deficit and scoring the deciding run when Grady Gurley raced home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth.
Ben Howell picked up his third pitching win with a complete-game effort that included seven strikeouts and just four hits allowed. None of Ripley’s four first-inning runs were earned as the Tornadoes committed a pair of errors and had a dropped third strike.
Brayden Marshall’s two-run triple in the bottom of the inning got UC right back into the contest, and Marshall later drove in the tying run in the fifth with a single that scored Jack Theobald.
Marshall reached base three times with two hits and a walk, while Theobald, who made an outstanding defensive play late in left field, scored two runs.
Ripley turned the tables on the Twisters in the nightcap, rallying for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to salvage a sweep of the twinbill.
Theobald, Marshall, and Preston Creswell had two hits apiece for Union City, with Theobald crossing the plate twice. Creswell and Howell each stroked doubles.
Mason St. Germain pitched into the sixth and was tagged with the loss. Creswell relieved and got the final two outs.
Now 8-20 overall and 1-7 in league play, UC will celebrate Senior Day today against Lake County, beginning at 4:45.
HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS
UC 6, Huntingdon 1 (G)
UC 6, Huntingdon 1 (B)
Both Tornado teams won their final regular-season road matches of the year and are just one more victory away from completing a perfect run through District 14A.
The UC boys are 19-1 overall, with the Lady Twisters improving to 16-3. Both are 13-0 in league play heading into Thursday’s Senior Day matchup with McKenzie.
Allie Vincent, Josie Ross, and Emma Jane Rice all cruised to 8-1 singles triumphs to highlight the Union City girls’ team triumph on Tuesday at Bethel University.
On the boys’ side, Byron Abbott and Paul Martin Tohn recorded 8-0 shutout wins, as did the doubles team of Abbott and Kobe Kirk.
Senior Day ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 3:30 on Thursday.
Girls Singles
Bertie Jenkins (UC) lost to Jazmine Seiber (H) 3-8
Allie Vincent (UC) defeated MK Stevens (H) 8-1
Josie Ross (UC) defeated Celeste Perez (H) 8-1
Emma Jane Rice (UC) defeated Lila Reed (H) 8-1
Briley Kate McKinney (UC) defeated Madisyn Barton (H) 8-3
Stella Turner (UC) defeated Kensley Rich (H) 6-1
Rylan Ali Bondurant (UC) defeated Mande Hodge (H) 6-0
Maddie Bailey (UC) defeated Maria Vicente (H) 6-1
Girls Doubles
Vincent/Ross (UC) defeated Seiber/Stevens (H) 8-4
Rice/Turner (G) defeated Perez/Reed (H) 8-6
Bondurant/Bailey (UC) defeated Barton/Rich (H) 6-2
Boys Singles
Kobe Kirk (UC) lost to Shawn Simpson (H) 2-8
Byron Abbott (UC) defeated Alijah Hastings (H) 8-0
Paul Martin Tohn (UC) defeated Caden Cargile (H) 8-0
Grant Sinclair (UC) defeated Kyle Byrd (H) 8-4
Kipton Powers (UC) defeated Eli Hayes (H) 8-3
Boys Doubles
Kirk/Abbott (UC) defeated Hastings/Cargile (H) 8-0
Tohn/Sinclair (UC) defeated Byrd/Hayes (H) 8-2
MIDDLE SCHOOL BASEBALL
UC 7, Obion Co. 5
Union City spotted OC four first-inning runs, then rallied to avenge an earlier defeat to the Rebels in their regular-season finale.
The Tornadoes will begin play in the NWTN Middle School Tournament on Thursday in the semifinals against a to-be-determined foe. UC (8-9) will be the second seed in the six-team tourney.
Eighth-graders Ja’Kabrien Ervin, Brody Fields, and Kason Medley, along with manager Sadie Gregg, received special recognition with their parents in pre-game ceremonies before the Twisters’ comeback victory.
Angel Tinajero singled, drove in two runs, and scored two more, while Fields doubled and scored. Bo Bondurant singled, crossed the plate twice, and had an RBI, while Fields doubled.
Medley, the starter, teamed with Sam Bailey and Fields on the mound. Each pitched two innings, with the Rebels scoring just two earned runs against the trio.
UC’s semifinal Thursday night game is slated to begin at 7:15.
MIDDLE SCHOOL GOLF
UC girls, boys top Obion Co.
Lili Petty’s match-best 55 helped the Lady Tornadoes edge OC by two strokes, while Sam Kissell was the boys’ medalist with a 40 for a Union City team that beat Dyersburg by 15 shots and OC by 16.
Maddie Parr and Brooklyn Maddox each shot 62 for the UC girls, who totaled 117 to Obion County’s 119.
The Twister boys improved to 8-0 by winning their final home match of the season.
Hudson Reeves carded a 46, Holt Nicodemus finished with a 49, and Jack Walker registered a 50 for Union City, which totaled a 185 team total.
UC will play Obion County at Wynridge Greens in Troy next Tuesday.
HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER
Westview 5, UC 2
The Chargers built a 5-0 lead before Union City scored a pair of late goals, dropping the Twisters to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in District 12A play.
Paul Sauvage scored UC’s final goal after earlier assisting on one by KhaZarion Scates for the Tornadoes.
Rylan Robinson had 13 saves in goal for Union City, which will play at Huntingdon at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
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