By Michael Lindsay
The Upperman Bees extended their lead in the District 7-3A standings Wednesday evening as they completed the sweep of DeKalb County via a 9-3 win in Baxter.
“District play is one of our top goals,” said Upperman head coach Wes Shanks. “We just got our third straight district sweep; Juju Llano did a great job on the mound yesterday and Alec Wilson was lights out today. They’re 1A and 1B for us.”
Upperman is 6-0 in district action and holds a two-game lead over second-place Cumberland County.
Senior Alec Wilson earned the victory on the mound Wednesday as he struck out 6 batters while giving up 5 hits in 6 innings of work.
“DeKalb County did a great job at getting a bat on the ball, but Alec is a ground-ball pitcher and our defense made some plays,” added Shanks.”
Third baseman Chris Wirsing led the Bees at the plate as he went 2-3 with 2 runs scored and RBI. Karsen Holroyd went 1-2 with 3 RBIs in the win, which came with Tennessee Tech signee Justin Fallon sidelined with an injury.
“Offensively, we’re getting better,” said Shanks. “We’re making some contact and you’ve seen some small ball from us this season. We were struggling early in the season. We’re finding our way through this until Justin is back in the lineup.”
Upperman went to work early as the Bees scored 4 runs in the bottom of the first innings via back-to-back bases-loaded walks followed by a sacrifice bunt to score Carson Shupe and Cody Lowe.
The Bees tacked on a run in the second and four more in the fourth to take a 9-0 lead entering the top of the fifth inning. Upperman went on to win by a 9-3 final score.
Up next for the Bees is Thursday action against Watertown while DeKalb County is scheduled to host Franklin County.
