Jackets Crushed by Eagleville 13-0 – Move to Losers Bracket
By Terry Futrell
Coalfield’s hopes for a state baseball championship took a slight detour Wednesday afternoon as the Yellow Jackets were crushed by Eagleville 13-0, forcing Coalfield to fight their way through the losers bracket to continue in the tournament.
The Jackets simply could not overcome the combined hitting/pitching performance of Eagleville. Coalfield used six pitchers in the seven-inning contest, with Zach Armstrong opening for Coalfield. Aiden Sexton, Eli Justice, Waylon Burgess, Tucker West, and Lucas Adcock all saw action on the mound for Coalfield. Coalfield’s cadre of pitchers had a tough time with Eagleville’s batters, walking nine, striking out three, and hitting three with pitches, while giving up eight hits and nine RBIs. Eagleville’s team batting average was .533.
In stark contrast, Eagleville used only two pitchers who walked only one Coalfield batter, hit one batter with a pitch, and gave up only five hits and zero RBIs. Coalfield’s meager team batting average was only .227. Levi Brasel led Coalfield batters, hitting 2 for 2, and Cole Hines, Brayden Burgess, and Zach Armstrong each had one hit in three appearances at the plate.
Coalfield committed six errors, while Eagleville committed only one.
Where were pitchers Cole Hines, Levi Brasel, and Levi Heidel? Apparently, Coach Andy Lowe was saving them for a time when the Jackets are faced with a win or go home situation, as will be the case when Coalfield plays Bradford Thursday morning and potentially faces Eagleville again Thursday afternoon. Coach Lowe is a strategist whose objective is the championship – winning individual games is secondary to achieving that objective.
As the “theoretical” visiting team (the game was played on Eagleville’s own home field), Eagleville charged out of the starting gate in the top of the first inning and pummeled the Jackets, much like Coalfield did to Lookout Valley. With three walks and three singles, aided by a Coalfield fielding error, Eagleville took an early 4-0 lead.
After a scoreless second inning, Eagleville racked up four more runs in the top of the third. The first three batters loaded the bases thanks to a walk and two batters hit by pitches. Add a single, a sacrifice bunt, a wild pitch, and a Coalfield error to the mix, and suddenly Eagleville was up 8-0.
Two singles and a walk in the top of the fifth resulted in Eagleville adding another run to lead 9-0.
Eagleville sealed the game in the top of the seventh by adding four more runs, thanks to a Coalfield error, a double, three consecutive walks, and a single. Coalfield again could not answer, and Eagleville won the game 13-0.
Coalfield moves into the losers bracket and plays Bradford Thursday at 11 AM EDT. The loser of that game goes home, and the winner plays Eagleville Thursday at 5 PM EDT. Should they beat Eagleville, they will have to play and defeat Eagleville a second time Thursday evening to move to the single elimination championship game on Friday.