Farragut notches season sweep of Hawks 6-1
Farragut High School’s baseball team saw its winning streak reach 10 games on Thursday, April 21.
The Admirals notched a 6-1 victory over District 4-AAA rival Hardin Valley Academy at John Heatherly Field at The Ballpark in Farragut. The win clinched a regular-season sweep over the Hawks for the Admirals.
Senior center fielder Cole Morgan had three hits and drove in a pair of runs for Farragut, which swept Hardin Valley this season after losing to the Hawks in the 2015 Class AAA State Championship Game last May in Murfreesboro.
Morgan had an RBI single in the second to give the Admirals (24-4 overall, 10-1 in the district) a 1-0 lead.
After struggling to find offense at times during the early part of the season, Farragut has swung the bat better over the last few games according to coach Matt Buckner.
“The last two or three weeks, we’ve been pretty stout offensively,” Buckner said. “We got some good swings and we swung the bat well [against Hardin Valley].
“We’ve swung the bat well and we’ve gotten some pretty good swings down the stretch. That’s what you shoot to do.”
The Admirals took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third before blowing things open with four more runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Chandler Chambers delivered a big blow for FHS during its late scoring outburst. He had a two-run triple after Carmelo Venero knocked in a run with a single before Morgan finished off the scoring with an RBI single to make the score 6-1.
Hardin Valley (19-6, 6-4) struggled on this day but the Hawks scored a run in third and got two hits from junior Dawson Byard. Hardin Valley had some chances but couldn’t cash in.
The Hawks got runners on base in every inning but one but Farragut’s pitching duo of Danny Abel (who started and went 3 1/3 innings) and John Painter made some timely pitches when in clutch situations when Farragut needed them most,
“Our pitchers threw the ball really well,” Buckner said. “They only gave up six hits.”
Abel surrendered a run and four hits. He had three strikeouts before Painter entered to pitch. The Admirals reliever had six strikeouts, while yielding two walks and a pair of hits.
Tyler Thompson started on the mound for the Hawks and had a rough outing. He gave up five runs and five walks in four innings. He struck out two before giving way to Drew Parks, who finished the game.
Hardin Valley coach Joe Michalski said that his team didn’t play well against the Admirals.
“We didn’t fight off enough pitches,” Michalski said. “We had some hitters guess with two strikes and we just didn’t play that well.
“We had some chances but their kids made the big pitches that they had to make. They made pitches in big spots. Farragut is outstanding. They’re a great ball club.”
Farragut’s win over the Hawks moved the Admirals one step closer to clinching another regular-season and the top seed in the upcoming district tournament, which opens on Friday, May 6.
