Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Logan Caldwell tries to evade the tag by somersaulting home on a second-inning double steal against Hiwassee Dam.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Braxton Cherry was as cool as a safecracker, as dominant as the lead dog in a wolf pack and as precise as a cardiothoracic surgeon Tuesday in Hayesville’s biggest baseball game of the year.
Cherry tossed a brilliant 1-hitter with six strikeouts before the pitch count caught up with him in the fifth inning of Hayesville’s 11-1 victory over visiting Hiwassee Dam in the first round of the playoffs at the beautiful Scott D. Penland Field.
“The last couple of starts, Braxton has really been getting dialed in. I think he’s just getting into the groove late in the season, which is good,” Hayesville Coach Joe Jack Sellers stated.
That’s bad news for No. 21 seed Eastern Randolph, 5-17, which upset 12-seed Mount Airy, 9-3, Tuesday to earn the right to drive 300 miles to face No. 5 seed Hayesville, 12-3, in the second round Friday.
“We’ll be ready to play,” Sellers promised. Cherry will be on the mound with 105 more pitches allowed by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
Cherry was more than ready against Hiwassee Dam, 7-12, which endured beat-downs of 13-2 and 18-0 from the Yellow Jackets during the regular season.
“Cherry” Cherry fired 16 strikes and just seven balls as he retired the first nine batters. Balls the Eagles managed to foul off went to the first base side, a sure indication that the boys in blue couldn’t get around on Cherry’s hot-diggity-dog-heater.
Cherry did more than rock and fire, he frustrated batters with a sharp curve and tantalizing change-up.
Hiwassee Dam’s lone hit off Cherry barely qualified as a base knock — a slow roller Evan Hedrick barely beat out. Cherry then slammed the door with a strikeout and two ground-outs.
Cherry pitched as if there was no room for error. For three-and-a-half innings, there wasn’t.
Hayesville clung to a tenuous 1-0 lead after three innings, the lone run coming in the first when Michael “Money” Mauney singled, stole second and scored on a throwing error by the shortstop.
The lead was still 1-0 when Sellers called his boys together outside the home dugout for a friendly, low-key chat.
“I just tried to tell them to focus at the plate, take good swings and not to try to guess at pitches,” Sellers recalled. “To have a plan when they go into the box, know what’s going on, know the situation, things like that. Sometimes a pep talk helps, sometimes it puts them backward. These kids, they sometimes put too much pressure on themselves, they play a lot of baseball and really put a great effort.”
The effort produced 3 runs in the fourth, 3 more in the fifth and 4 in the sixth that gave Hayesville the win via the 10-run mercy rule.
Hiwassee Dam finally cracked in the fourth, when Hayesville took advantage of a walk, a hit batter and Kendall “Boy, Oh” Boyer’s RBI single to push the lead to 4-0.
The Jackets were also helped by a bizarre error. Kyle “Smacks ‘Em A Mile” Lunsford was on second base when Hedrick started to throw to first in an attempt to catch Cade “The Bearded Wonder” Denton off the bag. Lunsford sprinted around third and scored when Hedrick stopped in mid-throw and the ball squirted out of his hand and rolled toward right field. Denton scored on Tate “Rockin’” Roberts’ sacrifice and Logan Caldwell plated on Boyer’s single.
Hayesville padded its lead in the fifth when Avery “Eveready” Leatherwood and Cherry started the rally with back-to-back singles. Both scored on infield errors. Roberts’ bloop single pushed across Lunsford to increase the lead to 7-0.
“We started out fast, then slowed down, then picked it back up and started hitting the ball a little bit,” Sellers said. “Pitching and defense kept us in the game. Our kids did phenomenal.”
Hayesville’s hitmen were in full glory in the sixth. Cherry, Lunsford, Caldwell and Kyle Shasheen rapped singles and scored. Roberts’ RBI-single produced the 10-run lead and ended the game.
“We scrapped a few runs across which gave us enough to win,” Sellers said. “I’m proud of the kids.”
He was just as proud last week when Hayesville finished the regular season with a win.
Hayesville 6, Robbinsville 0
Sellers should have worn a swimsuit under this jersey Thursday.
Hayesville’s first-year baseball coach displayed fancy footwork as he avoided players’ efforts to empty a water cooler on him after his Smoky Mountain Conference champs bested Robbinsville, 6-0.
Then again, Michael Jackson and Fred Astaire wouldn’t have stayed dry on this special day.
No surprise that Sellers ended up wet. His pitchers almost always hit their target, Yellow Jacket fielders never give up on a batted ball and Hayesville’s hitmen strike like disgruntled Teamsters.
That’s the way the game played out as Cherry tossed three innings of no-hit ball and relievers Denton, Caldwell, Boyer and Lunsford preserved the shutout as Hayesville handily disposed of the Black Knights.
“I’m a little emotional right now,” Sellers said. “I’m so proud of these kids. They worked hard and did everything we asked of them.”
As usual, Hayesville, 11-3 overall, 11-1 SMC, wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard.
Mauney led off the game by reaching on an error, stealing second base and sprinting home on Cherry’s single up the middle. Cherry and Leatherwood, who walked, touched the plate when Lunsford tripled by smoking a line drive that curled under the right fielder’s glove and rolled to the fence.
A three-spot was more than enough for Cherry, who struck out the side in the first, set the Knights down one, two, three in the second and whiffed two more after allowing a walk in the third.
Hayesville led 5-0 by then. The insurance runs came when Roberts singled and stole second, Mauney singled and Leatherwood chased both teammates home with a towering, two-out triple to right.
Hayesville’s final tally came in the bottom of the sixth when Caldwell took first on an error, stole second, took third on a ground-out and scored on a wild pitch.
The Yellow Jackets only had seven hits, but it seemed like more as they were 5-of-5 in stealing bases. Mauney was the top thief with two swipes in two tries to give him 19-in-22 attempts on the year. Mauney, who led Hayesville in season batting average with .477, also scored 2 runs to increase his team-leading total to 23.
Cherry was 2-for-3 at the plate with a double an RBI, while Lunsford and Leatherwood were both 1-for-3 with a triple. Lunsford had two ribbies. Roberts had a hit and a run.
Western North Carolina Batting Leaders
Regular Season
Mauney (H) .477
Matheson (H) .463
Boyer (H) .462
Davis (HD) .449
Hayes (S) .440
Cherry (H) .429
Weaver (A) .415
Hedrick (HD) .407
Lunsford (H) .404
Caldwell (H) .390
Beavers (HD) .375
Laney (M) .370
Leth’wood (H) .364
Denton (H) .364
Hughes (H) .357
Lilard (S) .357
Orr (R) .349
Turner (M) .344
Roberts (H) .343
Rickett (A) .342
Cole (M) .333
Woodard (S) .333