Story and Photos by Kailee Means
The Upperman Bees shut out the Smith County Owls 13-0 in baseball action on Friday night.
The Bees’ offense got to work quickly, as they scored two runs in the first inning. Between the second and fifth innings, Upperman brought home 11 more runs to push the lead up to the fifth-inning run rule.
“13-0 is a good game from a coaches perspective,” said UHS head coach Wes Shanks. “It is one of those situations where a non-conference game coming off a big conference series, you can expect guys to let down a little bit. We had that talk and they stepped up to the situation and did not do that, which was promising as a coach. We are excited that they can still keep their head focused in a non-conference game. We’ve got one more regular season non-conference opponent left leading up to the district tournament. We’ve just got to make sure we keep ourselves prepared physically and mentally.”
The Bees’ Eli Huddleston pitched for four innings, allowing three hits and zero runs with nine strikeouts and just one walk..Wyatt Curtis came in relief out of the bullpen for the last inning and struck out the side. The Bees’ recorded 12 hits from Caden Shanks, Justin Fallon, Carter Shanks, Rookie Allison and Huddleston. Fallon recorded two home runs in the third and fourth inning.
The Owls’ Tyler Hackett surrendered seven runs on eight hits over three innings with two strikeouts. Hudson Graber, Kylan Johnson, T.J. Testa and Dennis West each recorded one hit.
The decision to start Huddleston came from a long-term approach Shanks had with the district tournament on the horizon.
“Part of the strategy came into play, because during our DeKalb County series, we didn’t throw our number one because we will most likely see DeKalb County in our conference tournament,” said Shanks. “So, we threw off on game two and got Eli some work in. He just shows how effective he is and why he is one of the top pitchers in the state, if not one of the top players in the state. He comes in and locates through five innings of work and sometimes as a coach, it is mesmerising how effective he is.”
When asked about Fallon and his impact, Shanks says his play is a testament to the work Fallon has put in all season.
“From the start of the year, it was exciting to see him in the batting cage, on the practice facility and in the field,” said Shanks. “It’s something that you hope as a coach that you can help improve them in every direction, and he has improved in all facets of the game. In the field, he tracks down everything. He’s been in the one and two-hole and he is just consistently getting on base, barreling up balls and leaving heart all over the field. That is good for him because he’s put in all the dedication to be that good. He’s hot at the right time.”
The Owls will host border-county rival Trousdale County at 4:30 p.m. on Monday night, while the Bees will host Gordonsville at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night.
“We had a good day of practice as far as our fielding and strategy,” said Shanks. “When you have great pitching like we did today, it makes the strategy and fielding easier. We got to keep a positive mindset, and the team atmosphere is great right now. It is more of a mental approach at this point in the season and less of a physical approach.”
