Atlanta Rallies For District Win Over Brashear Tigers

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By David Sharp

Brashear got off to a hot start with the bats during their May 12, 2023 Class 1, District 13 at La Plata game with Atlanta. The Hornets rallied from a six run deficit after two full innings with eight unanswered runs, including two scores in the bottom of the sixth inning for an 8-6 victory.

The Hornets improved to 6-8 with the victory. Brashear dropped to 5-9 overall for the spring baseball season. Lucas Keller, Avery Zentz, and Alex Houghton played their final baseball game for the Tigers.

John Higgins led off the game with a base hit. Carson Erwin reached base on a fielder’s choice and later scored on a wild pitch. Cole Erwin laced a 2-2 Preston Peavler offering for a one out RBI hit and a 2-0 Brashear lead after the first inning.

Jack Reeves tossed two scoreless innings for the Tigers. Lucas Keller singled with one out in the Brashear second inning. Rhett Whitlow walked. John Higgins and Carson Erwin stroked RBI singles.

Cole Erwin came through with an RBI hit for a four run second and a 6-0 lead after two complete innings.

Atlanta had the top of their batting order up in the third inning. Grady Hruska led off with a walk. Hruska later scored on a wild pitch. Mason Reed singled. Landon Gilliland walked.

Cole Erwin came in to pitch. Jack Reeves struck out four, walked four on two hits. Reeves was charged with three earned runs. Preston Peavler worked for a bases loaded walk.

Morgan Rhoads and Logan Gladhill stroked one out RBI hits. Atlanta batted around in their third inning. The Hornets stranded the bases loaded, scoring three runs on three third inning hits for a 6-3 deficit.

Brashear was unable to score a run or get a base hit after the first two innings. Preston Peavler tossed six innings, picking up the win. Peavler fanned four with five walks on six hits. Four of the six Brashear runs were earned and charged to the Hornet starter.

Grady Hruska walked leading off the Atlanta fourth. Hruska made it to third base but didn’t score. Cole Erwin struck out two top or middle order Atlanta batters to maintain the Tiger’s 6-3 lead after four innings.

The lower portion of Atlanta’s lineup was critical to their remaining alive in district play. Morgan Rhoads walked with one out in the Hornet fifth. Duncan Cruz singled and later scored on a passed ball.

Josh Watson drove in a run with a base hit. Grady Hruska came through with a game tying two out RBI hit for a six all tie after five innings. Landon Gilliland collected his first hit of the game, a leadoff triple. Preston Peavler walked.

Cole Erwin struck out a batter. Morgan Rhoads put Atlanta on top with a sacrifice fly, scoring Landon Gilliland. Preston Peavler put the Hornets up by two runs, crossing the dish on a wild pitch.

Logan Gladhill walked. Alex Houghton was brought in to pitch. Cole Erwin pitched three and 2/3 innings in relief. Erwin struck out five of his 22 batters faced walking four on six hits with two runs allowed and a wild pitch.

Josh Watson reached base on an error, putting Hornets on second and third base with two out. Alex Houghton struck out a batter to end the inning with Atlanta on top of an 8-6 score.

Atlanta coach Collin Thrasher brought Landon Gilliland in to pitch. Gilliland induced a fly ball for the first out. The Hornet ace struck out the final two batters for the save and an 8-6 win.

“That’s been the story of our season,” Atlanta coach Collan Thrasher said. “A lot of games we have gotten down and just given up. Here lately, we have found out just what it takes to dig down deep and come back.”

“It was one run at a time. We never gave up,” Collan Thrasher said. “We got down six nothing. We fought back to 6-3. We put some hits together. I was really proud of the bottom of our lineup. They really came through today. That was huge.”

“We had a good game from Morgan Rhoads. I’m really proud of my boys for battling back. Preston (Peavler) gave up six early. He kept battling back. Landon (Gilliland) came in and shut the door. That’s what we needed him to do.”

Atlanta scored eight runs on eight hits. Morgan Rhoads was 2-2 with a run score and three batted in. Logan Gladhill was 2-2 with a run scored, an RBI and drew two walks.

Atlanta took on top seeded La Plata (11-6) on May 15 in the semifinal round. Second seed North Shelby edged Bucklin/Macon County 5-4 in the first round. Sixth seed Marion County upended third seeded Bevier for the right to challenge North Shelby in the District 13 semifinal round at 6:45PM on Monday, May 15.

Brashear scored six runs on six hits. John Higgins was 2-3 with a run scored and another batted in. Cole Erwin had a hit and drove in two runs.

“We got off to a hot start,” Brashear coach Jacob Bleything said. “We had all the momentum. They started to chip away. We played pretty good defense. I can’t credit it to our defense.”

“We had a few walks, but we pitched the ball fairly decent,” Coach Bleything said. “Both Jack (Reeves) and Cole (Erwin) threw pretty well for us at the end of the day. We put the ball in play quite a bit, even after the first three innings.”

“Event he bottom of the order was striping the ball around. Lucas Keller had two hard hit balls. One got down. The other one didn’t. In this case, it’s pretty much a tip of the hat game. We got down. Lost our momentum and we weren’t able to keep it going,” Jacob Bleything said.

“They ended up taking the win at the end of the day,” Coach Bleything said. “We have always looked at this group and thought we could do spectacular things with them. They are a group of outstanding young men. I couldn’t be prouder of what we have been able to accomplish.”

“”We had a few games in both the fall and spring that have slipped away from us. We put up a pretty good record in the fall. We were 5-3 in conference and 5-7 overall. It doesn’t help that Carson (Erwin) gets hurt at the beginning of the spring.”

“We found out before the game that (John) Higgins couldn’t catch. He has a banged up knee. We had one hurdle after another. We had guys missing. Guys getting in trouble. We couldn’t overcome the obstacles that faced us sometimes,” Jacob Bleything said.

“But we still played hard and competitive baseball. I couldn’t be more proud of them. We had a couple of games where we didn’t play as well as we could have. We played Putnam County within an 8-3 score late in the season.”

“We could have been 7-4 and we were potentially a two or three seed in this district,” Jacob Bleything said. “We aren’t having to face a tough 4-5 bracket like we have two years in a row.”

“Regardless of injuries we had our opportunities throughout the season,” Coach Bleything said. “These were the cards we were dealt. We played a fantastic ball game. We just have to tip our hats to Atlanta.”

“We will retain pretty much all of our pitching. We still have plenty to look forward to. We look to be as competitive as ever.”