Warrior baseball drops heartbreaker to Cumberland

White County High School Warrior baseball team welcomed the Cumberland County Jets to Ulysses G. Culley Field, on March 27, on a perfect night for baseball. The Warriors are playing better baseball this season and already have four wins on the year.  The two teams seemed to be evenly matched.  There are several connections between the two programs.  Head coach Tyler Thompson was an assistant coach at Cumberland County and brought some other coaches with him from our neighboring county.  One gentleman could be seen wearing a Cumberland County sweatshirt and a Sparta ball cap.  Further investigation revealed he had a son coaching for White County and a son playing for Cumberland.  The familiarity produced a fun atmosphere as both teams wanted the win badly.

Left-handed pitcher Trenton Wilson pitched a good game for the Warriors and kept the Jets grounded for the first three innings of the ball game. The Warriors looked as if they were going to race out to a big lead in the very first inning.  Austin Pionke started the game with a solid single and then stole second base.  Logan Brown would reach on an error, and Pionke would score.  The Jets’ pitcher hit two batters and walked another, plating another run for the Warriors. The Warriors had the bases loaded with just one out but were not able to score any more runs. The score after one inning was 2-0 in favor of the Warriors.

In the third inning, the Warriors would score after three consecutive singles by Jack Everett, Jacob Smith, and Sam Dicus.  Another run was added when Malachi Brown hit a sacrifice fly to center field.  The Warriors led 4-0 going into the fourth inning. 

The Jets would finally get on the scoreboard in the fourth inning.  They took advantage of an error and three singles in the fourth to plate two runs.  The Jets got two more runs in the fifth inning to tie the score at 4. The Warriors loaded the bases again in the sixth inning but were unable to push any runs across the plate.  The Jets scored in the top of the seventh to take a one-run lead.  The Jets closer struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win for the visitors. 

The Warriors and Jets would do battle the very next night, in Crossville.  A report from that game will be available in next week’s Expositor or on SpartaLive.com.