Justin Fallon, Caden Shanks Home Runs Lift Upperman To District-Clinching Victory Over Livingston Academy, 11-2

By Michael Lindsay

 

The Upperman Bees secured their third consecutive regular-season district championship on Tuesday as they won at Livingston Academy, 11-2.

Tuesday’s victory by Upperman follows a 2-0 loss to the Wildcats Monday in Baxter.

“This district play is very difficult,” said Upperman head coach Wes Shanks. “That was the case Monday; Carson Parrott was on his game and you have to give credit to them. We gave some encouragement to the guys and we came with our backs to the wall and performed.”

Upperman senior Caden Shanks posted a career day for the Bees as he struck out 14 batters while surrendering 5 hits and 2 runs with no walks over 7 innings pitched while going 2-4 at the plate with a 3-run home run, 4 RBIs and 2 runs scored.

“That’s the guy you want when your back is against the wall,” said coach Shanks. “Caden came out tonight with the bat and on the dish. They were having a hard time catching up to his velocity and his curveball kept them off balance. You can’t ask for a better pitching performance; in my opinion, probably the pitcher of the year in this district.”

Bee center fielder Justin Fallon opened the contest with a leadoff home run to left field to give the Bees a 1-0 advantage three pitches into the game. Upperman tacked on two more runs in the first as a Chris Wirsing single and Carson Shupe double drove in one run each to give the Bees a 3-0 lead after one.

“It’s a rival and you get a little more focused on it,” said coach Shanks. “We’ve been struggling early in games, and that’s been a point of emphasis the last few weeks. It was nice to get on them early and continue with the gas pedal down.”

Upperman wasn’t done with the long ball yet as a Caden Shanks three-run home run to left field in the top of the second inning gave the Bees a 6-0 advantage. A Shupe grounder to score Wirsing extended Upperman’s lead to 7-0 entering the bottom of the second.

Livingston’s Dawson Ledbetter got his team on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning as he hit a two-run home run to left field, cutting Upperman’s lead to 7-2.

After a scoreless third and fourth inning, Upperman drove in four runs in the top of the fifth via hits by Braden Green, Caden Shanks, Wirsing and Evan Huddleston to take an 11-2 lead over the Wildcats.

Caden Shanks held off any comeback attempts by Livingston over the final three innings to secure the 11-2 victory for Upperman.

“We’ve kind of lacked that spark all year long,” said coach Shanks. “We’ve been in some competitive games all year long, but haven’t found a way to win some of those big games. We had 17 hits tonight, and that’s probably the most we’ve had all season long.”

The victory grants Upperman the #1 seed and home-field advantage for next week’s District 7-3A tournament.

“We’re already in postseason mode,” said coach Shanks. “This was the first postseason-feel game. We had to have something now. We’ve got three more games this week, then the district kicks off next week. We’re already working our pitching around.”

The Bees are scheduled to host Coffee County on Thursday and Station Camp on Saturday before traveling to Mount Juliet on Monday to wrap up the regular season.

Livingston Academy is scheduled to host Warren County on Friday and Clinton County (KY) on Saturday before traveling to Cumberland County on Monday.