West Ridge left-hander Drew Hoover fires a pitch to a Sullivan East batter during Monday’s season-opening game in Blountville. Hoover, a junior, struck out nine and just missed perfection when he walked a batter to lead off the final inning.
West Ridge left-hander Drew Hoover fires a pitch to a Sullivan East batter during Monday’s season-opening game in Blountville. Hoover, a junior, struck out nine and just missed perfection when he walked a batter to lead off the final inning.
BLOUNTVILLE — West Ridge may be the consolidation of three high schools, but there’s no mistaking the Sullivan South connection for the new program’s baseball team.
The Wolves played their first game ever to rave reviews on Monday, blistering Sullivan East 17-0 in a five-inning, nonconference encounter that featured a no-hitter by Drew Hoover.
A junior who has already committed to East Tennessee State, Hoover was just a part of the package, however. His father, Michael, and his uncle, Rob Hoover, are coaches for the Wolves, who feature a number of former South Rebels in their lineup.
Michael Hoover, a 12-year assistant under Anthony Richardson at South and now West Ridge’s head coach, couldn’t have asked for more.
“If I had the ability to draw something up, that would have been the way to do it,” he said. “It was just a great first day for our guys and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They worked hard all off season and they’ve really come together as a group.
“It’s rewarding and very gratifying to see guys come out and have the kind of success that they did today after working so hard.”
CAN’T TOUCH THIS
Drew Hoover set ’em up and set ’em down in near-perfect fashion, striking out nine batters and getting errorless defense behind him. He lost a perfect game on a walk in the final inning.
“The pitching coach, who is my uncle Rob, said to attack hitters early and focus on that first-pitch strike, and try to get out of the inning in 15 pitches or less,” the left-hander said. “I knew I had my defense to take care of me, so that’s exactly what I tried to do.
“I was able to get that first-pitch fastball in there well and then come with a couple curveballs. Really, I just tried to pound the zone.”
The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder didn’t worry about just missing a perfect game. The walk to Justice Dillard came on a 3-2 pitch to lead off the fifth.
“I know, but it doesn’t matter,” Drew Hoover said.
His dad was light-hearted about the near miss.
“We’ll have to get some sprints in because of that,” Michael Hoover said, smiling.
But seriously.
“I was happy for him,” Michael Hoover said. “He put in a lot of work this offseason, trying to get stronger and better. I thought he and Coach (Rob) Hoover, my brother, worked well together.
“It’s been great to have (Rob) because he can kind of take care of Drew on the pitching end.”
HOT BATS
West Ridge showed the Patriots no mercy from the batter’s box, ripping 14 base hits.
The Wolves, who will be at East for a 5 p.m. return game today, banged out four doubles and a pair of triples while getting runs batted in at eight of nine spots in their order.
Brady Ratliff led the onslaught with three hits, including two doubles, and three RBIs. Issac Haynie had two hits and three RBIs, Will Harris collected two hits and knocked in three runs, Hoover had two hits with two RBIs, and Jackson McGee notched two hits and plated two runs.
Marshall Buchanan and Carson Tate both had two-run base knocks to ice the cake.
“East is a really good team, but today just happened to be our day,” Michael Hoover said. “When we go over there tomorrow I expect it to be a dogfight.”
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