By Michael Lindsay
The Gordonsville Tigers are heading into Easter weekend as winners of 8 of their last 9 baseball games following Friday’s 11-1 home victory over Trousdale County.
“We had a slow start today,” said Gordonsville head coach Travis Humes. “It was a different situation with a 3 p.m. start on a Friday with no school, but the guys responded well. We had some good, timely hits and it was good to get out and play some good baseball.”
Tiger junior pitcher J Foster struck out 10 batters while surrendering 4 hits and 0 walks in 5 innings of work. Foster gave himself insurance offensively as he went 1-3 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
“We’ve worked hard on making sure J gets a start per week,” said Humes. “That was the first run he’s given up in the last three starts; he threw well today.”
Bobby Cripps led the Tigers at the plate as he went 2-3 with 4 RBIs and a runs scored.
Trousdale County struck first as the Yellow Jackets scored in the top of the first inning to lead 1-0, a lead that would stand through the first three-and-a-half innings.
Gordonsville’s offense came to life in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Tigers scored 6 runs in the frame to take a 6-1 lead. Cripps started the rally with a two-run single followed by a James Peoples grounder to score another run. Gordonsville tacked on 3 more runs with two outs via a Foster single to right followed by a Yellow Jacket error and a run via passed ball.
“We got the first guy on and that allowed for us to get going,” said Humes. “Timely hits are a premium and we had several of those today.”
The Tigers tacked on two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three runs in the sixth to win 11-1 via mercy rule. Gordonsville improves to 12-8 overall including wins in 8 of their last 9 games.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” said Humes. “We had a rough start; we graduated 5 seniors from last season with over 400 innings of experience. There’s been some plugging and playing with lineups and trying to get into a groove. We’ve had guys step up and lean into their roles.
“Last week, we solidified winning the district regular season so we’ll host the district tournament here,” added Humes. “We’ve got great home-field advantage here at Crump Paris; the Tiger fans show up and we’re looking forward to it.”
Up next for the Tigers is a trip to Clarkrange in District 7-1A play on Monday at 6 p.m.
