Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville left field Cade Caruso gathers in a high fly for one of five putouts he recorded Monday at Union County.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
The Hayesville High School baseball team played like a world-beater during the first inning against Union County in Blairsville until the inexperienced Yellow Jackets beat themselves by committing errors, missing throws to the cutoff man, plunking three batters with pitches and missed opportunities.
Things initially looked rosy for Hayesville. The Jackets plated three runs with two outs in the first inning.
Michael Mauney started the rally when he was hit by a pitch and stole second base after two pickoff attempts. Kyle Shaheen then drew a walk. Next, Tate Roberts reached on a hot infield grounder when the first baseman dropped the ball. With Jackson Sellers at the plate, Mauney scored on a passed ball. Sellers then slashed a two-RBI single. Dawson Devane followed with a double on a wicked, screaming line drive down the third base side, but the uprising ended as quickly as it began when Union pitcher Eli Gwynn got out of the trouble with a strikeout.
Good start for sure, but the Jackets only managed three hits the rest of the way.
Union took the lead for good in the second inning with four ugly runs on an ugly four-run second inning on a dropped pop-up, three walks, an RBI ground out, two singles and a double.
Union added two more unsightly runs in the third with a ground ball single under a diving Shaheen, a hit batsman, an RBI walk, a sacrifice fly and a double that nearly cleared the leftfield fence.
The damage could have been much worse. Union had bases loaded with zero outs until two Panthers made the mistake of hitting the ball to left field. First, Cade Caruso saved Hayesville’s bacon by gloving a twisting line. Next, Caruso made the play of the game with a diving catch on a sinking liner. Union’s Gunnar Akins, on third base, assumed Caruso couldn’t reach the ball. That wrong assumption resulted in an inning-ending double play when Caruso got up and threw a rope into the infield that caught Akins trying to scamper back to third base.
Union threatened to pad its 6-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth but Hayesville limited the damage to a single run by catching Panther Moses Stevens in a pickle when he tried to score on a pitch in the dirt. Devane, playing catcher, alertly rebounded the ball off the backstop and rifled the ball to third. Pitcher Tate Roberts made the tag on a toss from Shaheen.
That superb play seemed to spark Hayesville.
The Jackets looked ready to retake control when Mauney began the fifth by beating out an infield single and Shaheen followed with a single. Mauney came home with the Jackets fourth run when Union threw the ball away on a botched pickoff attempt. Unfortunately, Shaheen was stranded when the Panthers got three outs in a row.
Hayesville actually outhit Union, 8-7 and committed two less errors in the sloppy contest. Only four Union runs were earned. All four Hayesville runs were unearned.
Mauney led Hayesville with one hit in two at bats, two runs, three steals and four putouts on defense. Roberts also sparkled with two hits, one run, a steal and only one earned run in four innings on the mound.
Devane, Shaheen, Sellers, Cooper Matheson and Peyton McGaha had one hit each. Caruso had five putouts.
Chance Hughes started and suffered the loss.
The loss leaves Hayesville with an 0-2 record.
Towns County 6, Hayesville 1
Hayesville’s season began with a loss at Towns County on Thursday, Feb. 29.
The Jackets managed four hits, but the total should have been higher. “We hit the ball hard, but we kept hitting it right at somebody,” Hayesville Coach Joe Jack Sellers said.
Hayesville’s four singles came from Devane, Matheson, McGaha and Shaheen, who scored the only run.
Towns took advantage of seven walks to secure the win.
Shaheen split pitching duties with Jackson Sellers. They gave up two hits each.