No. 1 seed for baseball Ads; win tiebreaker in district
Farragut needed only to beat a William Blount team it run-ruled at WBHS earlier this season while holding the Govs to 10 runs or less.
Accomplishing this would allow the Ads to win a District 4-4A tiebreaker versus Bearden and earn the No. 1 tournament seed and home field advantage.
Overcoming a shaky start, allowing four first-inning runs despite having ace pitcher Cole Draper on the mound, Farragut recovered well and earned a share of the regular season 4-4A crown and No. 1 seed with a 9-4 victory at The Ballpark at Farragut Wednesday, April 23.
“We did a good job kind of composing ourselves, settling in and getting back on track,” said Admirals skipper Garrett Copeland, whose team ended regular season district play at 8-2, 22-7 overall. William Blount dropped to 2-8, 19-16.
Draper, whose record inproved to 4-0, overcame an infield error, two hit batters and a pair of well-stroked RBI singles driving in three of the Govs’ four first-inning runs.
After that, the senior ace allowed just two other baserunners in the final six innings — one walk and one single — while striking out seven.
“I thought he did a good job settling in and being efficient from the second inning on,” Copeland said about Draper. “He got weak contact (in the first inning) and we didn’t make two plays that should have been made.”
Singles by Neyland Williams and Jake Harris came before an RBI single by Braxton Tye gave FHS its first run in the bottom of the first. After a Travis Brummitt Jr. RBI fielder’s choice, senior catcher/DH Jackson Zeller smacked a two-run homer to left field, tying the game 4-4 after one inning.
A second-inning single by Harris scored Braden Humphrey, who connected for a one-out single. Tye then laced an RBI double.
Brummitt walked before Zeller’s two-RBI single put the Admirals up 8-4. A balk added what would turn out to be the game’s final run.
Humphrey, Williams and Harris added singles after the second inning.
