Valley Sports ReportATHENS — Athens scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to put away a hard-fought, 8-1, win over Sayre here Thursday night in NTL baseball action.
With the win, Athens improves to 5-0, while Sayre falls to 0-6.
"It was a really competitive ball game tonight," said Athens coach Charlie Havens.
"Coach (Todd) Green always has his team up for us, they have some talent and really competed tonight," noted Havens.
"To me, the biggest difference was we ran the bases really well and Sayre ran into some outs," he added.
"Overall, I am pleased with the team's performance tonight," he said. "There is not a coach in the world who is happy with errors, but they do occur.
"Take those out it was a 2-1 ball game," noted Green. "I'm happy with knowing that for this team. The struggles are real, but they showed me they could persevere.
"As a coaching staff, we only hope we can continue to grow the baseball knowledge for these players and give them the proper techniques and fundamentals to learn the game and love the game as we do as coaches," Green added.
The Redskins scored in the top of the first inning on a two-out RBI double by junior Karter Green, but the Wildcat pitching kept them off the board for the remainder of the game.
Sophomore Brady Flynn earned the win, allowing one earned run on four hits, while striking out three and walking two in five innings.
Sophomore Kamden Wheeler earned the save, striking out three and walking none in two innings of two-hit relief.
"Flynn and Wheeler both pitched really well," said Havens. "It's nice to see we have some depth there for the stretch run in a few weeks."
Athens loaded the bases with one out in the home half of the first, but senior David Hall pitched out of the jam.
The Wildcats took the lead in the bottom of the second inning, at 2-1, on a two-out infield throwing error.
Senior Theo Molina led off the top of the third inning with a bloop double down the left-field line, and senior Nick Pellicano followed with a bunt single to put runners on first and third.
After Pellicano was gunned down stealing, sophomore Shaine Strickland hit a grounder to Athens third baseman Kam Wheeler, who cut Molina down at the plate. Another ground out ended the inning.
Sophomore Jordan Brown stroked a one-out single in the top of the fourth inning, and freshman Riley McGaughey reached on an error, but Flynn fanned the next two batters to escape the jam.
Junior Eli Hobday hit a two-out RBI double to extend the Athens lead to 3-1 after four innings.
Sophomore Zach Fisher led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single, and scored two pitches later on an RBI double by Flynn to make it 4-1.
The Redskins threatened again in the sixth on a two-out single by Brown, followed by a double off the bat of McGaughey, but Wheeler registered a strike out to end the threat.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Eli Hobday, Davidson and Cooke worked walks, then all scored on a bases-clearing three-RBI double by Wheeler to make it 7-1.
Wheeler scored on a passed ball with two out to provide the final margin.
Wheeler doubled, scored one run, and had three RBI, and Eli Hobday doubled, scored one run, and drive in one run to pace Athens' five-hit attack.
Flynn doubled and drove in one run in the win, while Sipley and Fisher each singled and scored one run, and Davidson, Cooke, and senior Noah Hobday each scored one run.
Brown singled twice to pace Sayre's six-hit attack, while Green doubled and drove in one run, McGaughey and Molina each doubled, and Pellicano added a single. Sophomore Shaine Strickland scored the Redskins' run.
Hall pitched five strong inning for the Redskins, allowing four runs — two earned — on four hits, while striking out four and walking one.
Athens returns to action Saturday at noon when it hosts Milton, while Sayre hosts Sullivan County at 11 a.m.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens sophomore Brady Flynn. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens' Nick Grazul. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
