Sonoraville pulls out win in wild game against Adairsville
There was plenty of offense to go around in what proved to be a highly-competitive, highlycombustible contest between Sonoraville and Adairsville on the diamond Thursday. In a game that was truly backand-forth until the final out, it was the timely home runhitting prowess of the Phoenix (9-12, 5-9 in Region 6-AAA) that paved the way for a razor-thin 13-12 victory over the Tigers (17-8, 10-5 in Region 6-AAA).
With a combined 26 hits between teams and each inning featuring at least one run scored, it was apparent that hitters from both lineups stepped into the batter’s box with aggressive and contactminded approaches from the opening pitch. The 13 runs represent Sonoraville’s thirdhighest offensive production of the season.
“The key for us in this one was top to bottom production from our lineup,” Sonoraville head coach Daniel McArthur said. “That is an extremely good baseball team in the other dugout, so we knew we would have to come out swing- ing if we wanted a shot at beating them.”
The veteran-laden lineup of the Tigers was able to strike first, notching two runs off of Sonoraville starting pitcher Trent Walker by way of a Hunter Hice two-RBI double after Noah Dutton reached on an error and starting pitcher Caden Gibbs singled.
However, Sonoraville promptly responded with two runs in the bottom portion of the inning when Chase Kirby sprinted to third on an outfield error and was knocked in by a Storm Carnes sacrifice fly. Grant Hegwood then roped an RBI-double to bring home Avery Hopper, who was hit by a pitch.
Adairsville was able to snatch the lead back in the next frame, building a 5-2 advantage off a sacrifice fly from Kyler Pelfrey and two-RBI double from Gibbs. In what became the game’s primary trend, the Phoenix remained resilient and found a way to answer.
Sonoraville sliced the scoring gap down to 5-4 in the bottom of the second as Hopper smacked a single to bring around Cole Godfrey and Kirby, who both reached on base knocks of their own. After Walker held the Tigers scoreless in the top half, the Phoenix exploded for five runs on five hits in third, the most notable being a pair of RBIdoubles delivered by Matthew Vincent and Tyler Lyles. The team clung to a 9-5 lead after three.
Adairsville didn’t go away quietly, tallying three runs in the fourth off an RBI-double from Corey Nation, RBI-triple from Pelfrey and RBI-single from Gibbs. The Phoenix were able to once again establish separation on the scoreboard off the bat of Wyatt Castoe, who hammered a solo homer over the left-field fence to push the score to 10-8.
Sonoraville scratched two more runs across in the next inning stemming from a Hegwood RBI-single followed directly by a throwing error that allowed Hopper to dash home. The Tigers edged closer by tacking on two more runs when Halen Huskins and Gibbs both scored on wild pitches in the sixth before Gage Soulios blasted a solo homer to pad the Phoenix lead at 13-10. Soulios finished tied with Godfrey for a teamleading three hits on the evening.
“Guys like Wyatt, Gage and Cole are grinders, and they went through some tough stretches this season, so I was excited to see these guys have big games and drive a couple out of here tonight,” McArthur said. “We have some guys with some power, and if we are hitting 1-9 in the order, we know we are tough to beat.”
In a game full of twists and momentum-swinging innings, perhaps the most dramatic was the top of the seventh during Adairsville’s final rally attempt. After Sonoraville reliever Collin Bridges walked three straight batters to load the bases with no outs, McArthur turned to Soulios to protect the lead. Things turned tense as BJ Roper scored on a wild pitch and Pelfrey added another RBI to shave the lead down to one run, but Soulios stayed dialed in and induced two flyouts and a groundout to secure the victory.
“The ups and downs of this game were something,” McArthur said. “I was proud of the way that we hung in there and pulled out the win any way that we could.”
It was a committee-type effort for Sonoraville on the mound. Despite the runs piling up early, Walker displayed a plethora of quality breaking pitches and maintained his composure through 3 1-3 innings pitched. Although eight runs were scored during his time on the hill, only six were earned. He collected four strikeouts.
Also toeing the rubber for the Phoenix was Jacob Cornette, who logged 1 2-3 innings and kept Adairsville scoreless while striking out three. Cornette was relieved by Bridges in the sixth, who picked up the win and struck out one. Soulios didn’t record any strikeouts in his one inning of work, but managed to force the three biggest outs of the game for Sonoraville.
“I thought all of our pitchers performed well because the way that Adairsville is swinging the bat right now makes it really tough on any pitching staff,” McArthur said. “We got behind because they were able to groove some of our fastballs over the plate, but for the most part we battled and threw strikes. Our guys got in jams all night and fought through them.”
Sonoraville was back at home on Tuesday to host Ringgold. (For details on that game, see Saturday’s Calhoun Times.) They will be on the road again on Thursday to visit North Murray at 5:55 p.m.