Brummitt, Ads hold off ORHS for top spot in district
Travis Brummitt Jr. wanted to stay on the mound.
The Farragut senior made that known several times on Monday, April 20, and he had good reason to feel that way.
Facing a full count with a runner on third and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Brummitt fired a third strike to preserve the Admirals’ 5-4 win over Oak Ridge at ORHS. With the win, the Ads claimed the regular-season district title and earned the top seed for the District 4-4A Tournament.
Brummitt went the distance for FHS, giving up three hits and four runs with six strikeouts on the night.
“He made it known that he continued to want the ball,” Farragut coach Garrett Copeland said of Brummitt. “That’s been by design — we wanted to continue to build throughout the year — but he’s a competitor and that’s what we expect from him.”
Brummitt and the Ads’ defense got plenty of help from the Farragut offense, which stacked five runs in the top of the sixth to break a 0-0 stalemate.
A Mason Shelton bases-loaded walk brought Matthew Mitchell home, then Cole Creasman knocked an RBI single before Braxton Tye hit a three-RBI double to put FHS ahead by five.
“I thought we did a good job staying within the strike zone, took what they were giving us and worked a couple walks,” Copeland said. “We put a few balls in play, some things happened, and Braxton worked that at-bat to break it open. I thought we did a good job staying within ourselves and being patient.”
Undeterred, the Wildcats responded with a two-out, two-run homer from Parker Free and another two-run shot from Vanderbilt commitment Joe Webb.
Brummitt kept the Ads ahead with a strikeout in the Wildcats’ next at-bat. He followed that by inducing three straight outs in the next inning, the final one with the tying run just 90 feet away.
Now, FHS will look to handle its business in the rematch on Wednesday, April 22. But the most important aspect was clinching the top seed, which FHS did in thrilling fashion.
“Anytime you’re competing against other people, you want to come out on top,” Copeland said. “Being able to play at home for the district tournament is big, so glad we were able to achieve that.”
