Playing under the bright lights of AT&T Field, the home of the Chattanooga Lookouts, Lookout Valley's Yellow Jackets put quite a sting in the baseballs Tuesday night.
Less than 24 hours after winning in walk-off fashion against Sale Creek, undefeated Lookout Valley unloaded 15 hits in an 18-1 five-inning victory that finished the sweep of its District 4-A foe.
"It's hard to not be energetic in a place like this where so many big-league ballplayers came through," Lookout Valley coach Lance Rorex said. "Our guys were hungry today after an emotional win last night. We had 13 guys at the field an hour and a half before batting practice. We had great energy in our dugout and all-around today."
No. 3 batter Rylan Chandler put the finishing touch on the breakout performance by launching an inside fastball that seemed to hit off the left side of the scoreboard high above the tall left-field wall.
Ruled to be a double, Chandler's bases-clearing hit in an eight-run fifth inning was a strong closing finish for Lookout Valley (6-0, 2-0), which scored its most runs in a district contest since an 18-0 victory over Arts & Sciences on April 6, 2009.
Every Yellow Jacket in the lineup had at least one hit and scored a run.
"Baseball is simply the sport we love and something we take great pride in. It's just in us," said Chandler, who hit a home run against Red Bank over the weekend. "We came in firing on all cylinders today and showed up early to practice to make sure we were ready."
The top of the lineup received quite a spark from senior leadoff man Zane Howard and junior Cole Janeway. Howard drove in five runs in the first three innings and crossed the plate four times, while Janeway had four hits and four RBIs.
Lookout Valley held full command up 10-0 after three innings.
Avery Hamrick followed up his walk-off single from Monday night's 7-6 win with a 2-for-3 day at the plate along with Trevor Everette. Sophomore Jacobi Dixon also finished a strong series for the Yellow Jackets with a sharp single to left field, a sacrifice fly and two runs scored.
Sale Creek (4-3, 0-2) had only two hits, both from Brayden Penny, who scored in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Sam Waggoner.
Howard picked up the win on the mound as he worked four solid innings. He recorded all three outs in the first himself on two popouts and a groundout.
"We look to keep improving every day, but I am going to give these guys a little bit of a break until we get back to action next Monday against CSAS in district play," Rorex said. "They deserve some time off. Every district game is big. No matter if you win it by one or by more than 10."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.