Vikings suffer tough road loss to Gate City

Vikings suffer tough road loss to Gate City
BRIAN STOUT / Sports Writer

KINGSPORT, Tenn. "? A late Powell Valley rally came up short Thursday as host Gate City rode the arm of freshman Wes Hughes to a 5-4 win over the Vikings in a non-district baseball thriller at Hunter Wright Stadium.

Hughes (1-0) pitched six and a third innings for Gate City (2-0) to lead them to their second win in three days and get his first career victory on the mound.

"It feels great to be on a great field to pitch on,"? said Hughes. "The defense was backing me up the whole way."?

The Blue Devil freshman made the start against Powell Valley (2-1) and gave up four earned runs from nine hits. He struck out six Viking batters while walking three.

Junior Jordan Estepp went to the mound with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and put out the fire late by retiring the final two Viking hitters to record his first save of the season.

"We had our moments where we could have taken control of this game and just didn't capitalize,"? said Powell Valley coach J.W. Salyers. "We'll get better. It's early in the season, but our pitchers will improve. We've got to get ahead in the count and that's all there is to it."?

Freshman Dusty Clark went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and two stolen bases in the win. Lead-off hitter Buck Eldridge went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs, a walk, an RBI and five stolen bases.

"I'm just trying to step out as a freshman, do my job, try to play some good defense behind them, and try to put the ball in play,"? said Clark.

Gate City recorded 12 stolen bases on 13 attempts in the win. The Blue Devils cracked only five hits while drawing seven walks in the victory.

"We like to play small ball,"? said Blue Devil coach Shannon Carter. "We take pride in playing it. We've got some guys who have some speed. We're going to be aggressive on the bases."?

Eldridge drew a lead-off walk to start the first inning for the Blue Devils and quickly stole second for his first steal of the evening. He scored on a passed ball to give Gate City an early 1-0 lead.

Viking second baseman Ryan Hubbard drove in right-fielder Travis Pippen and center fielder Paul Thomas with a hard line-drive single to left field in the top of the second inning to give Powell Valley a 2-1 advantage.

The Blue Devils tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning when second baseman Trey Clark reached on a dropped fly ball and later scored on a bunt single by Eldridge.

After Eldridge stole second and third, Dusty Clark doubled to score Eldridge and give the Blue Devils a 3-2 lead after two innings.

Powell Valley tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the fourth inning when Hubbard singled to score Pippen again for his third RBI of the game.

Dusty Clark got another big RBI for Gate City in the bottom of the fourth when he singled to right field to bring home right-fielder Ken Byrd to open a 4-3 lead for the Blue Devils.

Courtesy runner Logan Byrd ran for Hughes in the bottom of the fifth inning and stole second and third bases before scoring on a sacrifice bunt from designated hitter Terrence Harvey to extend the Blue Devil advantage to 5-3.

Catcher Gil Lusk hit into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded to score Hubbard as Powell Valley cut the Blue Devil lead to 5-4 with two out in the top of the seventh inning.

Estepp fanned the next hitter Kenny Burke with runners on first and third for the final out to end the game as Gate City escaped with a one-run victory.

"It's good to be in games like that, especially early in the season,"? said Carter. "This is a building year for us. These guys have got to grow up in a hurry. They're doing that and every time we practice and play they're going to get better."?

Hubbard went 2-for-2 at the plate for the Vikings in the loss with a walk, a run and three RBIs while Pippen went 2-for-3 for Powell Valley with two runs and a stolen base.

Burke made the start for the Vikings and gave up an earned run on two hits while striking out two and walking three hitters in an inning and a third of work.

Tyler Bray (1-1) took the loss after giving up two earned runs on three hits. Bray threw four and two-thirds innings for the Vikings and gave up only two earned runs on three hits while striking out five and walking four batters.

"We just didn't play too well,"? said Powell Valley's Salyers. "We did not pitch well. We were behind in the count. We were walking hitters. That's not a good recipe for good baseball."?

bringing up some old info aren't ya?

Just putting it on here for anyone that didn't get a chance to view the article in the paper. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

Wonder if the Bray kid is getting tips from the oldtimers on here? [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif[/img]

couldn't be. I saw him hit one over the fence Thursday, I don't mean the one behind him. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: pvhsfan</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Just putting it on here for anyone that didn't get a chance to view the article in the paper. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img] </div></div>

we all get the paper......so remind us, which one is your daughter?

I was gonna say, I must have missed them playin GC again..

hahaha my daughter doesn't play baseball for PV. . . this is a baseball article if you had read it, you would know that. .

how bout putting them all in one post next time

When does PV play again?

Im not sure, I thought Friday but I saw a schedule that had something different, its supposed to be at Appy

PV's next game is at Appy. Friday if the weather permits at 4:30.

Thanks, I can never find when anyone plays. I'd always rather watch the local kids play.

PV Softball plays today at Lee High at 6:30 and Thursday at Appy at 5:00.

[img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: pvhsfan</div><div class="ubbcode-body">PV Softball plays today at Lee High at 6:30 and Thursday at Appy at 5:00.

[img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img] </div></div>
Again, thanks- I enjoy high school sports.

PV's boys baseball has been moved up a day will play Appy. on Thursday at Appy. 4:30 and the Coeburn rainout has been rescheduled for Monday 4/7/08 at Coeburn 6:00.