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Poyen’s A.J. Phillips takes a swing in the Indians’ first round State Tournament win over Hermitage. (Photo by Paxton Penny)
By Paxton Penny
The Poyen Indians fell Saturday in a heartbreaker at the AA State Quarterfinals.
The Dierks Outlaws, second-seed out of the South Region, ended the West Regional Champion Poyen Indians’ run with a 9-8 upset in White Hall. Lawson, a standout for the Outlaws, slapped a 2-run homerun in the top of the first inning as Dierks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. Poyen scored 1 in the bottom of the second. Daniel Thaxton doubled, Jordan Phillips reached on error, and Blade Batchelor was walked to load the bases. Cameron Holland then knocked in Joey Gaddy, who was running for Thaxton. Dierks had a series of big hits in the third inning and scored 2 runs. Lawson struck out all three Poyen batters in the botttom half. The Outlaws scored 1 in the top of the fourth, but pitcher Dustin Johnson and a tough Poyen defense worked through a bases-loaded situation to leave 3 stranded. The Indians did not allow a run in the fifth, but Dierks scored once in the top of the sixth to extend their lead to 7-1. “We could have quit, but we battled back.” said Indian coach Dennis Emerson. “We came together as a team.” Jordan Batchelor walked along with Thaxton to start the bottom of the sixth for the Indians. Kayne Ross followed with a hit to load the bases. B. Batchelor then slapped a double down the right-field line to send Thaxton and J. Batchelor home. Johnson walked with two outs, and A.J. Phillips scored Ross and B. Batchelor on a double down the right-field line to shrink the gap to 7-5. Crutchfield tied the game with a single that scored Johnson and Phillips. “At that point we had put their starter out,” added Emerson of Lawson, who threw 11 strikeouts in 6 innings. In the top of the seventh and final inning Dierks regained the lead with a bunt, a walk, an error, a base hit, and a sacrifice fly. Trailing by 2, Thaxton started the bottom half with a hit down the third base line and Kane Ross was walked. Jordan Phillips placed a “beautiful” bunt, “but it rolled foul at the last second,” said Emerson. Phillips’ next bunt went to the first baseman, who made the play at second. Blade Batchelor was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Cameron Holland popped a sacrifice fly to score Ross and bring the game within 1 With runners on first and second, 2 outs and 1 strike, Johnson sent one deep into the left-center gap. The ball was caught to end the game. The Indians end their season at 20-6. They finished their conference season undefeated (10-0), won the 5-AA Conference Tournament Championship, and won the West Regional Tournament Championship. “You can’t say enough about these guys, about the way they played and the season we had,” |
