by Rusty Ellis
GAINESBORO – The Smith County Owls earned a pair of wins over Jackson County, as they took down their district foes 19-7 and 22-1 in a doubleheader on Monday evening.
“We did a good job executing our offense and swinging the bats tonight,” said SCHS head coach Malone Smith. “There were some things under the radar that we need to be a little bit better about, but overall, the guys swung the bats well, ran the bases hard and that’s all you can ask for.”
The 12-run win in game one was powered by a four runs apiece in the first and second innings, before the Owls exploded for seven runs in the third to take a 15-0 lead. Ty Martin had the big hit in the frame, as his two-run triple pushed the lead to 11-0 before back-to-back doubles from Ethan Montgomery and Riley Martin added onto the lead.
Jackson County struck for seven runs in the bottom of the frame, as Carter Collier’s RBI single got the Blue Devils on the board. This was followed by four bases-loaded walks and two hit-batsmen with the bases loaded to cut the lead down to just 15-7. Smith County scored four unanswered runs from there however, as game one went the way of the Owls 19-7.
Game two saw the visitors carry that momentum and pull away early, as 16 runs crossed the plate in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Kylan Johnson put together a massive frame, as he went 3-3 with three RBIs in the inning to help the Owls build the lead.
Johnson and Evan King each drove in runs in a four-run second inning, and after a lightning strike in the third, the game was called early for a 22-1 win for the Owls to earn the two-game sweep.
Smith says what stuck out to him the most in the two games was the way he felt his team remained focused and locked in, despite the big leads.
“That’s something we preach is playing hard all the time and never letting your foot off the gas,” Smith said. “You’re always competing in the box, and you’re always making the other team get you out. You never want to give it up easily.”
It may require some nitpicking based on the scores from Monday night’s affairs, but Smith says one thing he would like to see improve is a little bit more accuracy off the mound, as he felt the free passes with the bases loaded in game one were really the main negatives.
“We had a big inning for them where we just walked batters,” Smith said. “When we’re ahead, we need to be aggressive in the count. Not getting beat deep on a fastball when we’re hitting, just overall situational awareness on offense and defense, we need to tighten it up.”
Smith County will head to Green Hill on Thursday, while Jackson County will be back in action hosting Trousdale the same day.
