Tribe Plays Hunch, Stays Alive With Elimination Win Over West Ridge
Conventional wisdom says inserting a sub-.200 hitter into the clean-up spot won’t solve a baseball team’s offensive woes.
But Dobyns-Bennett coach Ryan Wagner had a hunch and played those cards Thursday night in the Tribe’s 9-5 District 1-AAAA elimination game victory over West Ridge at TVA Credit Union Ballpark.
The victory keeps the Indians (24-7) season alive while the defeat ends the year for the Wolves at 10-17.
Taylor Blankenship entered the game batting .193, and only .111 against Big East Conference foes and was 0-for-6 against the Wolves on the year.
But this time the house lost as Blankenship went 3-for-3, was also hit by a pitch, and drove in three runs in the win.
“You just see stuff when you are around them everyday,” explained Dobyns-Bennett coach Ryan Wagner. “Now I don’t know what we will do tomorrow, but today I just felt something. And Taylor had a big hit for us in the first inning.”
The two out single was the equalizer with Blankenship also driving in single runs with singles in the third and sixth.
Most all of Dobyns-Bennett’s nine runs were manufactured. Of the Tribe’s nine hits, none went for extra bases. The Indians also stole seven bases and collected a trio of sacrifice flies.
“We did what we needed to do to score runs,” noted Wagner. “We didn’t knock it all over the park. We just made some things happen.”
A three-run fifth seemingly gave the Tribe a comfortable 6-1 lead. But West Ridge got a solo homer from Brayden Barr to kick-off a four run rally and chase D-B starter Cam Hayworth in the sixth.
Ean Mays entered with the tying run and second and go-ahead run at first. Mays’ first pitch temporarily eluded Blankenship as the Wolves’ lead runner raced to third. But Blankenship cut down the trailer at second for the final out of the inning.
“Huge play there the way they were swinging the bats,” noted Wagner.
The Indians then tacked on three more to finally put the Wolves away.
“We scored enough and held them off,” continued Wagner. “They are a tough out. I don’t care how many guys they lost from last year. Coach (Michael) Hoover and their staff did a great job to lose as many guys as they have and to come uin here and be able to compete against Boone and us is pretty impressive.”
Hayworth earned his third win of the season and Mays his first save. Hayworth was also 2-for-3 at the plate with his courtesy runner, Jaylen Thomas, scoring three times. Will Ritz drove in two runs as well.
Barr and Click both had two hits for West Ridge and Morgan Ward drove in two runs.
Dobyns-Bennett faces top-seed Daniel Boone in another elimination game Friday at 6:00 p.m.
West Ridge – Kade Oliver, Reed White (6) and Josh Seto. Dobyns-Bennett – Cam Hayworth, Ean Mays (6) and Taylor Blankenship. W – Cam Hayworth 3-4, L – Kade Oliver, S – Ean Mays 1. HR – Brayden Barr, West Ridge (solo in 6th). RBI – West Ridge 5 (Morgan Ward 2, Brayden Barr, Peyton Mains, Ryker Hann); Dobyns-Bennett 7 (Taylor Blankenship 3, Will Ritz 2, Mason Kerkhoff, Mason Barnett). SF – Will Ritz, Dobyns-Bennett; Mason Barnett, Dobyns-Bennett; Mason Kerkhoff, Dobyns-Bennett. SAC – Ryker Hann, West Ridge. SB – Jaylen Thomas, Dobyns-Bennett; Will Ritz, Dobyns-Bennett 2; Mason Kerkhoff, Dobyns-Bennett; Andrew Reilly, Dobyns-Bennett; Tray Windham, Dobyns-Bennett 2; Parker Senn, West Ridge.
But Dobyns-Bennett coach Ryan Wagner had a hunch and played those cards Thursday night in the Tribe’s 9-5 District 1-AAAA elimination game victory over West Ridge at TVA Credit Union Ballpark.
The victory keeps the Indians (24-7) season alive while the defeat ends the year for the Wolves at 10-17.
Taylor Blankenship entered the game batting .193, and only .111 against Big East Conference foes and was 0-for-6 against the Wolves on the year.
But this time the house lost as Blankenship went 3-for-3, was also hit by a pitch, and drove in three runs in the win.
“You just see stuff when you are around them everyday,” explained Dobyns-Bennett coach Ryan Wagner. “Now I don’t know what we will do tomorrow, but today I just felt something. And Taylor had a big hit for us in the first inning.”
The two out single was the equalizer with Blankenship also driving in single runs with singles in the third and sixth.
Most all of Dobyns-Bennett’s nine runs were manufactured. Of the Tribe’s nine hits, none went for extra bases. The Indians also stole seven bases and collected a trio of sacrifice flies.
“We did what we needed to do to score runs,” noted Wagner. “We didn’t knock it all over the park. We just made some things happen.”
A three-run fifth seemingly gave the Tribe a comfortable 6-1 lead. But West Ridge got a solo homer from Brayden Barr to kick-off a four run rally and chase D-B starter Cam Hayworth in the sixth.
Ean Mays entered with the tying run and second and go-ahead run at first. Mays’ first pitch temporarily eluded Blankenship as the Wolves’ lead runner raced to third. But Blankenship cut down the trailer at second for the final out of the inning.
“Huge play there the way they were swinging the bats,” noted Wagner.
The Indians then tacked on three more to finally put the Wolves away.
“We scored enough and held them off,” continued Wagner. “They are a tough out. I don’t care how many guys they lost from last year. Coach (Michael) Hoover and their staff did a great job to lose as many guys as they have and to come uin here and be able to compete against Boone and us is pretty impressive.”
Hayworth earned his third win of the season and Mays his first save. Hayworth was also 2-for-3 at the plate with his courtesy runner, Jaylen Thomas, scoring three times. Will Ritz drove in two runs as well.
Barr and Click both had two hits for West Ridge and Morgan Ward drove in two runs.
Dobyns-Bennett faces top-seed Daniel Boone in another elimination game Friday at 6:00 p.m.
West Ridge | 100 | 004 | 0 | -- | 5 | 9 | 4 |
Dobyns-Bennett | 102 | 033 | x | -- | 9 | 9 | 0 |
West Ridge – Kade Oliver, Reed White (6) and Josh Seto. Dobyns-Bennett – Cam Hayworth, Ean Mays (6) and Taylor Blankenship. W – Cam Hayworth 3-4, L – Kade Oliver, S – Ean Mays 1. HR – Brayden Barr, West Ridge (solo in 6th). RBI – West Ridge 5 (Morgan Ward 2, Brayden Barr, Peyton Mains, Ryker Hann); Dobyns-Bennett 7 (Taylor Blankenship 3, Will Ritz 2, Mason Kerkhoff, Mason Barnett). SF – Will Ritz, Dobyns-Bennett; Mason Barnett, Dobyns-Bennett; Mason Kerkhoff, Dobyns-Bennett. SAC – Ryker Hann, West Ridge. SB – Jaylen Thomas, Dobyns-Bennett; Will Ritz, Dobyns-Bennett 2; Mason Kerkhoff, Dobyns-Bennett; Andrew Reilly, Dobyns-Bennett; Tray Windham, Dobyns-Bennett 2; Parker Senn, West Ridge.
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