Farragut’s Hagenow Denies Tennessee High State Trip
by STEVE WILMOTH
TriCitiesSports.com
May 17, 2019
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The Southeastern Conference won out over the Atlantic Coast Conference in Friday night’s Class AAA baseball sectional at Tod Houston Field as Farragut’s Ryan Hagenow, a Kentucky commit, won a battle of three-hitters, 2-0, over Tennessee High and Virginia Tech signee Gavin Cross.
Making its 12th straight sectional appearance, Farragut earned its 19th state tournament berth, but first in three years. It was the longest such drought in over 20 years for the nine-time state champions, who have won eight titles since 2003.
“It seems like an eternity,” said Farragut coach Matt Buckner, whose team lost in the sectional round to Jefferson County two years ago and Seymour last year.
“I went for ten consecutive years and I felt like it was a rite of passage. Then we had two setbacks and I didn’t know how to handle it. But this senior group put a lot into it and really worked hard at it and I’m proud of these seniors. It’s a big moment for them.”
Hagenow picked up his 10th win of the year on just 86 pitches in the swiftly played one-hour, twenty-three minute affair. Hagenow struck out seven, walked only two and got all the support he would need when ETSU signee Ashton King lofted a two-run homer in the top of the third.
“Ryan had a man performance today,” continued Buckner. “He got in a real jam in the third and he made some pitches and we played defense. And that’s what we do. For the most part, we pitch the baseball extremely well and we field the baseball extremely well. That’s kind of been our formula.”
Figuring the 6-5, 200-pound junior right-hander would simply try to blow his fastball past the bottom of the Viking order, Tennessee High Preston Roberts encouraged those to take advantage.
Eight-hole hitter Jarrett Powell punched a single to right to open the bottom of third and ninth-place hitter Bryce Snyder reached on an error.
“I told our 8-9 guys they were going to try to pump fastballs by them,” Roberts explained. “I told them if they saw a first-pitch fastball to swing at it. And both swung at first-pitch fastballs and they gave us a chance.”
Leadoff hitter C.J. Hess then perfectly executed a bunt up the third-base line for a sacrifice hit to load the bases with nobody out.
But Hagenow got Cross to bounce into a fielder’s choice to Vanderbilt-bound Parker Noland at third who threw home to MTSU signee Ryan McCarthy to get the lead runner.
King University signee Davis Hall then rapped into an inning-ending double play started by Noland, Tennessee’s Mr. Baseball in 2018 and one of three 2019 finalists.
“Credit Mr. Baseball there,” said Roberts. “It was a heckuva play by some incredible athletes.”
Hagenow seemed unfazed by the no-out dilema.
“I’ve learned over the years that every run matters,” Hagenow said. “I just tried to throw strikes and I knew we had a force at every base and our infield is absolutely insane. They’ve been making plays behind me all year. I just wanted to keep the ball down in the zone and see if they could get a barrel on it and if they did, let my guys make the plays.”
The Vikings managed only one more hit off Hagenow, a lead off single by Ryan Gibson in the bottom of the seventh and outside of third inning, had only other runner in scoring position the whole night.
“He (Hagenow) has been lights out all year,” said Farragut’s King. “He’s the best pitcher in the state in my opinion.”
Cross didn’t allow a hit until the third, when sophomore second-baseman Angus Pence, brother of Tennessee Vol Duncan Pence, poked a one-out single. King, the next batter, then lifted a 1-0 Cross delivery for the two-run homer.
“He (Cross) came first pitch change-up, so I was kind of expecting fastball,” said King. “It was kind of up and in. I got my hands there quick and it happened to go out. I didn’t think it was going out, i thought it was a pop fly, but it went out.”
Buckner noted that King, whose fastball can touch 92, would have come on in the seventh had another hitter reached against Hagenow.
“Our shortstop (King) is a great player,” said Buckner. “ETSU got an absolute steal in that kid. He’s an absolute stud.”
Cross allowed only one hit over the final four innings, a Hunter Merrick single leading off the fifth. A pair of errors, Merrick’s single and three subsequent stolen bases, put Admiral runners at second with less than two outs in the second, fifth and sixth innings.
“Cross was great for them,” added Buckner. “He varied speeds on his fastballs and kept us off the fastball. We had opportunities to score, but didn’t get it done because he made big pitches.”
Coming off a regional semifinal win over Jefferson County on Monday, the Viking left-hander stuck out five and walked none.
“Really proud of Gavin and his ability to come off three days rest and give us an opportunity,” Roberts said. “We weren’t expecting him to throw the whole game, but he got in a good rhythm and was setting guys down. Nobody really hit him outside of King.”
The Vikings were playing in a fourth elimination game inside two weeks while looking for their first state tournament appearance since 1980.
“The ability to handle those elimination games the past couple of weeks speaks volumes about the character of this program and our seniors,” noted Roberts.
“We knew what we were going to get in Farragut. It was going to be a major challenge for us. I’m just so proud of our guys for the way they handled everything. We were right there with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh at Tod Houston.”
With its stable of pitchers that includes Hagenow, Tennessee commit Drew Patterson and another pair of future ETSU Bucs - Owen Kovacs and Landon Smiddy - Farragut figures to be a favorite to win its 10th state title when the state tournament opens next Tuesday in Mufreesboro.
“We have tremendous depth on our pitching staff and if you can get to a tournament that helps you,” said Farragut’s Buckner. “That’s what we’ve been building on for a long time.”
Meanwhile, a tremendous season that saw the Vikings win their first regional title and make their first sectional appearance in 39 years, ends at 27-12.
“They’ll be talking about this team around here for many years to come,” noted Roberts. “I told them afterwards this is probably the biggest game ever played at this ballpark and this was probably the largest crowd ever at this ballpark. This is what they’ve built. They’ve built this and it’s just special.”
Farragut | 002 | 000 | 0 | -- | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Tennessee High | 000 | 000 | 0 | -- | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Farragut - Ryan Hagenow and Ryan McCarty. Tennessee High - Gavin Cross and Jacob Orr. W - Ryan Hagenow, L - Gavin Cross. HR - Ashton King, Farragut (one on in 3rd). RBI - Ashton King, Farragut (2). SB - Farragut 3 (Tanner Corum, Hunter Merrick, Parker Noland). DP - Farragut. LOB - Farragut 3, Tennessee High 5.