A historic season has come to a close for the varsity Yellow Jacket baseball team. The Jackets hosted Mountain Island Charter Thursday, June 17 for round two of the NCHSAA 1A state playoffs. The Jackets were ahead early, but failed to stay out front and eventually lost the game 12-9.
Hayesville’s 6 runs in the bottom of the first inning were enough to put them ahead by 4. The Raptors battled back in the top of the second to close within a run. However, in the their half of the inning, the Jackets were able to extend their lead to 7-5.
The third inning proved to be the deciding stanza as Mountain Island’s offense exploded for 6 runs. In the fourth inning the Raptors tacked on an insurance run to build their lead to 12-7.
In the bottom of the sixth, Hayesville showed some fight and was able to push a run across the plate to make the score 12-8. After shutting the Raptors down in the top of the seventh, Hayesville came to the plate looking for another drama-filled comeback.
It looked as though that might happen as the Jackets managed to load the bases. A walk to Peyton Hunt gave Hayesville a run and kept the rally going. On a wild pitch, Kyle Lunsford broke for home from third base. A convenient bounce sent the ball back to the catcher and the two players met in a cloud of dust. Fans awaited the call from the home-plate umpire and after what seemed like minutes, the official called Lunsford out.
Jeremy Stewart was a tough out for the Jackets, going 3-4 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Eli Roberts had two hits with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Connor Bradley made the most of his plate appearances with an on base percentage of 1.000.
So instead of being down 1 run with one out, the Jackets found themselves down 2 runs with two outs. Mountain Island squashed Hayesville’s hopes by recording the third our and ending the Jacket’s season.
Although the year didn’t have a fairy tale ending, it will still be one for the record books. Hayesville end’s the season with an overall record of 14-2 and 13-1 in the Smoky Mountain Conference. Their regular season performance also earned the Jackets the SMC championship.