Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville shortstop Tate Roberts, No. 11, camps under a pop fly during Monday's game against Towns County as left field Cade Caruso, No. 7, rushes toward the infield.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
The Hayesville Yellow Jackets plated 3 runs in their final at bats to come from behind to beat visiting Towns County, 9-8, in a spirited contest in which fans on both sides traded insults during the hotly-contested baseball game Monday.
“The spring break layoff hurt some, but the kids battled through all the adversity and pulled it out in the end. I’m proud of the team effort,” Hayesville Coach Joe Jack Sellers remarked.
The comeback win was Hayesville’s 10th in a row and third triumph by a single run. But the win didn’t come easy.
“We sorta hit in spurts,” Sellers said. “Defense was rusty also.”
The Yellow Jackets were in the catbird seat 6-0 after four innings, but the Indians scored 3 in the fifth to make things interesting and added 5 in the sixth to take an 8-6 lead.
The inning would have been even bigger if a Towns County base runner had been called “safe” at third base when Hayesville outfielder Peyton McGaha gunned him down on an RBI single up the middle.
Fans traded verbal barbs while Towns County’s coach went round and round with the umpires to no avail.
When the chirping finally ended, the Indians resumed their attack with a single to left center, followed by a double that scored 2 runs.
Hayesville finally secured the third out on a dropped third strike when Dawson Devane rifled the ball to first baseman Jackson Sellers, leaving the Towns County faithful wondering how many runs their boys would have tallied if the umps would have signaled “safe” instead of “out” on the crucial play at third.
Hayesville’s big inning, the 5-run fourth, began with two outs. Devane and Cooper Matheson lit the fuse by drawing back-to-back walks. Next, Cade Caruso singled to load the bases.
Michael Mauney’s solid single brought home two runners, and McGaha followed with a wicked double to left that moved Mauney to third. Both men scored on consecutive infield errors.
Sellers then delivered a rocket to center field that sent Tate Roberts and Kyle Shaheen motoring, but the ball was caught for the third out.
Mauney extended his hitting streak to 11 games and raised his batting average to .559 with three hits in four at bats. He also scored 3 runs, giving him 20, drove in two teammates, and stole two bases, his 18th on the year without being caught.
Shaheen also feasted on Towns County pitching. He upped his batting average to .467 by rapping two hits that drove in three.
McGaha had a single, a double and an RBI.
Caruso and Devane had singles.
Hayesville’s early lead was protected by a strong pitching performance from Caruso, who struck out seven and allowed just one hit and zero runs over the first four innings. That hit — a single — was the first hit off Caruso this season.
Hughes earned the win after Towns County chased Shaheen. He surrendered just one hit in one 2/3 scoreless innings.
“Cade pitched great. He looked like his old self,” Sellers praised.
Caruso, who averages two strikeouts per inning this year, lowered his ERA to 1.31.
Hayesville looked to extends it win streak and solidify its standing atop the Smoky Mountain Conference with games with Murphy on the road Tuesday and at home Friday.