‘Canes Win Two in a Row
The ‘Canes broke out of their seven game losing streak when they traveled to Augusta last Thursday, and backed by an outstanding defense, pitcher J.C. Dunagan threw a no-hitter.
The ‘Canes defeated the Josey Eagles 9-0. Dunagan struck out 13 batters, gave up just three walks, and faced only 25 batters out of a minimum of 21 during seven innings.
Besides the 13 strike outs, the other eight outs came from ground balls fielded by infielders Ethan Huff, Kyle Byrd and Cody Batche-lor. Outfielders Mark Pierce, Alex Jordan and Lee Bailey had an easy day with no balls hit to the outfield.
The ‘Canes got on the board in the first inning when Byrd doubled to left and then stole third. Catcher Caleb Reynolds was hit by a pitch, and first baseman Bryan Anderson walked to load the bases. Two runs came home when a liner by Bailey was mishandled by the Eagles.
Four more runs were scored in the second when Huff singled, Byrd got on via an error, and Reynolds walked. With the bases loaded, Anderson and Bailey hit singles, and Dunagan hit a sacrifice to score the runs.
Three more runs were scored in the sixth and seventh after Huff, Dunagan and Jordan all hit singles.
Head Coach Chris Jenkins said, “I’ve been part of a no-hitter before, but this was the first one I’ve ever been part of as a coach. You may have seen three inning and five inning no-hitters, but any time you see a seven inning one it’s incredible at any level.
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“J.C. struck out 13 batters and there were eight ground balls resulting in outs, and that was about it. I felt sorry for our outfield. They have played so well lately, but nothing was hit to them all day.
“Even the ground balls they hit for outs weren’t solid hits. One thing J.C. had was movement on his fast ball. He didn’t necessarily have to throw it by anyone, but just keep it down, and it was pretty evident he was doing that. It was a great defensive effort by the team, and we were real proud of J. C.”
The ‘Canes won again on Tuesday night at home when they defeated region opponent Greene County 10-2, for their second win in a row. Bryan Anderson was the winning pitcher, only giving up one earned run and holding the Tigers scoreless for five of the seven innings. Once again, the pitcher was backed up by outstanding defense as the ‘Canes turned two double plays and left the Tigers with bases loaded in separate innings.
The ‘Canes were down 1-0 until the bottom of the third when they scored four runs on RBIs by Reynolds, Bailey and Dunagan. In the fourth they struck again for three more runs. Once again it was Reynolds and Bailey with the RBI’s. In the fifth, Donavan Sands tripled to score the eighth run, and in the bottom of the sixth he and Dunagan each contributed another RBI.
It was the first time this season the team has put together back-to-back wins with good pitching, good defense and aggressive hitting at the plate. Their last game of the season is scheduled for this Friday, at home versus Laney at 4:30 p.m.
Young ‘Canes
The junior varsity has concluded its season, however, the middle school team is scheduled to play its first game of the middle school tournament this Friday, at Criswell Park just this side of Monroe, beginning at 7 p.m. They will continue to play on Saturday if they win.