Ads take 13-game win streak to ‘Top 16’ national tourney; hand HVA first 4-4A setback
When it was over, Farragut High School’s 9-3 win over Hardin Valley Academy showed why the two-time defending Division I-4A state champs are the team to beat in the district.
Down 2-0 early, FHS scored six runs in the second and third and never looked back. Farragut banged out 12 hits and got three sterling innings of relief from senior righthander Stratton Scott.
“I thought we played pretty well,” said Admirals skipper Matt Buckner, whose team had won 13 in row entering the week (17-4, 7-0 in 4-4A) while playing in a 16-team tournament in Cary, North Carolina, this week against what is probably the best collection of high school baseball teams in the nation.
“We’ve got a good defense. Good to get a win,” he added.
“They’re one of the best teams in the state, obviously,” Dave Dillon, HVA head coach, said. “Our guys battled, they competed. But (Farragut is) a really good ball club.”
The Hawks got run-scoring hits from Caleb Jinks and Isaac Woorley to lead 2-0 in the second. In the bottom of the inning, FHS tied it when Charlie Bozeman, following Gavin Brewer’s single, crushed a homer to left.
With two outs in the third, Eli Evans hit a two-run double to make it 4-2 Ads. Michael Delph’s single then brought in Evans for a 5-2 lead. Brewer’s second single was followed by a single by Bozeman, which scored Delph, making it 6-2.
The four-run third chased Hawks’ starter Jacob Dillon, who gave up seven hits and six earned runs in three innings.
The Hawks got their final run in the fourth when Caleb Neeley was hit by a pitch, scoring Mason Shelton.
Bozeman’s run-scoring single in the fifth inning was his third hit and fourth RBI.
He later scored on Brennon Seigler’s grounder.
In the fifth, Scott took over for starter Cole Draper and threw three shutout innings. He gave up a walk in the fifth and a single in the seventh
“Proud of Charlie, he’s worked hard,” coach Buckner said of Bozeman. “Stratton’s been great all year.”
Bozeman was confident of Farragut’s chances for success “if we play the baseball we’re supposed to play,” he said.
After the setback, HVA was 16-3 overall, 4-1 in district.
