Tunstall baseball falls to Dan River, beats Cavs and Cougars
Tunstall baseball (11-2) dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker against Dan River in a non-district matchup. Will Eaton was the starting pitcher and took the loss giving up five hits and striking out four.
The game remained scoreless until the top of the fourth when Caulier Barker and Will Eaton hit back-to-back doubles. After advancing to third, Eaton was left stranded in scoring position. Tunstall would leave seven runners unscored on the night.
Landon Jones led the charge for the Trojans late in the top of the seventh while down 2-1 with a two out double to left field. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Jones was left stranded at third in the 2-1 loss. Jones would lead all hitters with a double, two singles, and a stolen base.
Last week, Tunstall beat Chatham 9-2 where Raymond Ladd was the winning pitcher giving up six hits and striking out six. Tunstall jumped on the Cavs early with four runs in the first inning including a leadoff triple from Jones. Ladd would add a single in the first.
In the top of the sixth, following two-out singles from Carter Richardson and Elijah Byrd, Caulier Barker lifted a two-run homer in the sixth brining the lead to 9-1. Ladd would also add a double in this inning.
Tunstall also beat Patrick County on the road in a 13-11 nail biting finish. Patrick County scored five runs on five hits in the bottom of the seventh to make the victory a little too close for comfort.
Patrick County held a 6-3 lead going into the fifth. Elijah Byrd, Aiden Watlington, Ladd, and Eaton each hit back-to-back singles in the Trojans big five run fifth. Richardson also added an RBI single to bring the score to 8-6.
Ladd started things off in the top of the sixth with another single. Daniel Hicks and Peyton Henderson each added a single while Byrd and Richardson each had doubles to bring the score to 13-6.
Not to be outdone, Patrick County had their own five run inning, but it was too little, too late as Watlington made the final play of the game at first and Tunstall fans let out a sigh of relief.
Tunstall will host Bassett on Thursday, April 28, at home at 5pm. Tunstall narrowly defeated Bassett 2-1 in the team’s first meeting earlier this month.
This article was previously published in the April 27 issue of the Star-Tribune.
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