By Michael Lindsay
The Upperman Bees continued their undefeated run through District 7-3A Tuesday afternoon as they won at Cumberland County, 10-0.
Upperman pitcher Eli Huddleston posted another dominant performance as the Tennessee Tech commit gave up only 3 hits and struck out 11 during 7 shutout innings against the Jets.
“It took us a little bit to get going, but luckily we’ve got Eli Huddleston on our team,” said Upperman head coach Wes Shanks. “He comes out feeding strikes and keeping guys off balance. That gives us a little comfort when he’s on the mound.”
The Bees gave Huddleston plenty of insurance as they totaled 10 runs on 12 hits.
“This was a breakout game for our bats,” Shanks said. “This is the most hits we’ve had all year with 12. We’ve played some stiff competition; 7-3A has some guys that can throw. We’ve been looking for some good hits, and it’s nice to see a big game.”
Both teams were dialed in defensively early as neither gave up a run through the first three innings.
Upperman broke through in the top of the fourth inning as the Bees put four runs on the board. Caden Colson started the rally with a single to center, scoring Julian Llano. A Rookie Allison single to center scored Ty Stanton before a Huddleston line drive scored Braden Williams and Evan Huddleston, putting the Bees up 4-0.
A Llano sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth extended Upperman’s lead to 5-0.
Three runs in the top of the sixth put the Bees ahead 8-0. Upperman tacked on two more in the top of the seventh via a triple by Caden Shanks, scoring himself and Williams to give the Bees their 10-0 victory.
Upperman’s sweep of Cumberland County keeps their perfect district record intact.
“Being 6-0, you can’t complain,” coach Shanks said. “We’ve had some games we ran away with it and some we had to fight and crawl back. In 7-3A, there’s going to be a lot of close ball games. Games like this give your team confidence.”
Up next for Upperman is a showdown of state champions as the defending Class 3A champion Bees are scheduled to face the defending Class 4A champion Farragut Admirals on Thursday.
