Hawks hammer Bearden
KNOXVILLE — Brycen Denton’s big day propelled Hardin Valley Academy’s baseball team into the win column against a rival, on the road, Wednesday, March 17.
Denton, the Hawks’ left-handed pitcher, hurled a complete game and struck out 10 while HVA pounded out 13 hits — six for extra bases — and notched a 12-3 District 4-AAA victory versus Bearden at BHS’s Phil Garner Ballpark.
While giving up three runs and four hits, Denton did some damage at the plate, going 3-for-4 — capping the day with a three-run homer in the top of the seventh. He also doubled in the contest and sat down the last 10 Bulldogs, seven by strikeout.
“He really got his legs under him and threw well today,” Hardin Valley head coach Tyler Roach said of Denton. “When he gets his legs under him, he’s going to do well and be hard to handle.”
“At the end of the day, the story of the game was their pitcher,” Bulldogs head coach John Rice said.
Offensively, HVA (2-0 overall, 2-0 in District 4-AAA after the win) took advantage of some miscues by Bearden (1-1, 1-1). After Hawk Jaylen Jones scored the first run in the first inning, it became 3-0 in the second thanks to an RBI double by Logan Ozias and a scoring single by Austin Bolding.
Hardin Valley responded in the top of the fourth inning after BHS scored on an RBI single by Ty Seritt, which scored Griffen Oros in the third.
Jones ripped an RBI double, and Ty Denton came up with a two-run single. Ethan Davidson-Browder drove in another run with a hit. Archer Wong-Shasteen also scored.
“We hit the ball well today and we took advantage of some of their mistakes,” Roach said.
“We made some mistakes today and they hit our mistakes,” Rice said.
Oros belted two-run homer in the fourth for the Bulldogs.
