Vikings rally past Knights in final inning

Vikings rally past Knights in final inning
KEVIN MAYS / Associate Sports Editor

BIG STONE GAP "? Powell Valley's Paul Thomas scored the Vikings' fifth unearned run of the game Tuesday night in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the host club a 7-6 non-district baseball win over the Coeburn Blue Knights at Buster Taylor Field.

Thomas' run ended a game that saw a wild final two innings. The Vikings (3-1) came from behind twice in the sixth and seventh innings to take the win over Coeburn (0-2), which had only one hit through the first five innings of the contest.

Defensive problems plagued both teams with each team giving up four errors, which led to eight of the game's total 13 runs being unearned.

"Defense has been our Achilles heel so far this season,"? said Powell Valley coach J.W. Salyers. "We had good pitching tonight and we hit the ball well against some tough pitching. But, our defense hurt us some.

"Still, I'm proud of the kids for how they battled back twice and hung in there to get the win. That's big for such a young team."?

Coeburn coach Steve Hubbard Jr. was also proud of his squad for its effort in the contest.

"I don't like the loss, but overall I feel pretty good about the way that we played,"? said Hubbard. "They're a good ballclub and for us to come back and battle like that shows a lot."?

Hubbard's Blue Knights didn't seem to be putting up much a fight at the plate in the first five innings.

Powell Valley left-hander Lucas Fannon kept Coeburn in check by giving up only one hit through the first five innings.

Coeburn sophomore right-hander Andrew Pate did his part by keeping the game close in the first four innings against the Vikings, giving up four hits while recording two strikeouts and one walk.

The only two runs of the game through five innings "? both of them unearned "? came in the bottom of the second inning with two out.

Powell Valley's Travis Pippin drew a walk from Pate, who then struck out Greg Bolling. Bolling advanced to first base and Pippin moved to third when the third strike got past Coeburn catcher Jon Dean and a throwing error allowed Bolling to reach base safely.

Back-to-back singles from Ryan Hubbard and Delmas Lawson scored both Pippin and Bolling to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead.

Coeburn's bats came alive in the sixth inning when Brad Moore led off the frame with a home run over the left field fence.

J.T. Miller then reached first on a fielding error. One out later, Miller advanced to third and Hunter Bond reached second base on another Powell Valley throwing error.

Pate then singled to left field to score both Miller and Bond and put the Blue Knights up 3-2. After moving to second on a fielding error and to third on a wild pitch, Pate scored on a double to left field from clean-up hitter Keith Smith.

Powell Valley regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Thomas tripled off the center field fence with one out and then scored on a single to left field by Pippin.

Tyler Bray reached first on a fielding error, then moved to second and third on back-to-back singles from Pippin and Derrike Shortt to load the bases for the Vikings.

Hubbard then drew a walk off relief pitcher Brett Hall to allow Bray to score from third and tie the game at 4-4.

The Vikings added another run in the sixth when Lawson hit a pitch up the middle and Hubbard beat the play at second base thanks to another Coeburn error, allowing Pippin to score from third.

Coeburn rallied in the top of the seventh inning when Miller drew a one-out walk from Powell Valley's Bray (2-1), moved to second on a two-out single from Bond and scored on a single to right field by Pate.

Bond then put Coeburn ahead 6-5 when he scored after a single by Smith.

Powell Valley's Gil Lusk led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double. Tre Mullins, running for Lusk, then moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a throwing error. Thomas then drew a walk off Coeburn's Bond (0-1), stole second and moved to third after tagging up when Kenny Burke flew out to deep center.

Intentional walks to Bray and Pippin loaded the bases with two out. Bolling then hit a slow infield grounder and Thomas scored the winning run from third thanks to a throwing error.

Lawson and Lusk each went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Vikings while Hubbard finished with two RBIs and Lawson and Pippin each had an RBI.

Pate and Smith each finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs at the plate for the Blue Knights.