By Michael Lindsay
District 7/AAA baseball’s #1 seed made its postseason debut Friday evening in Baxter as the top-seeded Upperman Bees defeated Macon County, 14-4.
The defending Class 3A state champions recorded 14 hits and 12 RBIs in Friday’s run-rule victory.
“We hit the ball well,” said Upperman head coach Wes Shanks. “We came out, scored a few runs and put pressure on them. That took some pressure off our pitching staff. I thought Braden Williams did a great job. We continued to hit the ball and put guys on base.”
Williams picked up the win for Upperman as he struck out 6 and gave up only 3 hits in 4 shutout innings.
At the plate, Upperman’s Caden Shanks went 4-5 with 2 triples, 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Eli Huddleston went 2-4 with a home run, 4 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
“We’ve got some talented players, and they’re really starting to hit their stride,” coach Shanks said. “That’s exciting for us; we’re hitting it hard.”
Upperman came out swinging as the Bees scored in each of the first three innings. Upperman plated 3 runs in the bottom of the first as Justin Fallon scored on a wild pitch before a Tyler Jared sacrifice fly scored Caden Shanks and a Rookie Allison single scored Eli Huddleston to give the Bees a 3-0 lead.
The Bees tacked on a run in the bottom of the third before Upperman’s put the game out of reach in the bottom of the third as they scored 6 runs in the frame to take a 10-0 lead.
4 of Upperman’s 6 third-inning runs came with 2 outs as Fallon and Shanks delivered back-to-back triples along with a Huddleston single to center.
Trailing 10-0 entering the fifth, Macon County responded with 4 runs in the top of the inning to stay alive at 10-4.
Back-to-back hits from Kaden Woodard and Ely Malo drove in 4 Tiger runs in the top of the fifth inning.
Upperman responded in the bottom of the frame as Huddleston sent a 3-run home run to right field to give the Bees a 13-4 lead. Upperman finished off the run-rule victory in the bottom of the sixth as a Caden Shanks triple scored Braden Green to make the final score 14-4.
“Everybody’s down to their last outs and they’re going to fight like it,” Shanks said. “We still battled back and got that 10-run rule. We gave up a few hits here and there, but we gained experience and that’s great for the postseason.”
Upperman’s victory keeps them atop the winner’s bracket, where the Bees will be in action Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against Livingston Academy.
“We earned the right to host this tournament, and we’re excited for that,” Shanks said. “We’ll watch some baseball and get some scouting in. We’re not just sitting around waiting for the next team; we’re getting prepared.”
