Blue Devil baseball outscoring league opponents, 68-4

Unicoi County baseball is the new kid on the block in the Three Rivers Conference. Thus far, the Blue Devils look more like new men among boys. Chad Gillis' squad improved to 6-0 in the league with a home-and-home sweep of South Greene on March 23-24. The sweep came by scores of 20-0 and 15-0. Unicoi County has outscored league opponents, 68-4. Isaac Harris pitched four no-hit innings in a 20-0 win at South Greene on Monday. He struck out eight and walked none. Asher Wainwright pitched a one-hitter the following day against the Rebels in Erwin. Gillis left pitchers in because they need the work, and there were a number of long breaks while the Devils batted. "Isaac pitched well," Gillis said. "It got to where he was throwing on the side during those long innings. I'm sitting here looking at pitch counts thinking he's got to get work in. His pitch counts have been low all year anyway. "I don't think he's hit 70. So I wanted to stick with him instead of getting some guys some innings." Wainwright never seems to need many pitches to retire the side. "I'm trying to build up Asher's pitch count, and he gets a whopping 36 in four innings and gives up one hit," Gillis said. "It's hard to get his pitch count up because he goes through innings so quickly. If we play solid defense, he's throwing six, seven, eight pitches an inning." Angel Delgado, Reid Bogart and Kolby Jones each drove in three runs in the win at South Greene. Jones and Daven Thompson scored three runs apiece. Tanner White hit a grand slam and Jones homered and drove in three more runs in the win in Erwin on Tuesday. Broox Bennett was 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBIs and a double, and Alex Laningham went 2-for-3 with two runs, a double and a stolen base. "We have nine guys in the lineup that can swing it," Gillis said. Gillis saved Jones on the mound for a non-conference game at David Crockett on Thursday. The Pioneers prevailed, 10-3. "I wanted to challenge Kolby with a competitive lineup," Gillis said. "They can hit. Anybody's that splitting with Boone can swing the bat, because Boone's got arms. They were good and they were sound – didn't make any mistakes that hurt 'em." The same couldn't be said for Unicoi County. The Blue Devils committed three errors, leading to four unearned runs for Jones. Crockett scored seven runs in the fourth inning. "It was very frustrating," Gillis said. "We made a couple of errors – physical errors – and we made even more mental errors. We've got to get over that hump. That was a very frustrating game. "I think we started feeling a little sorry for ourselves. I'm not gonna say we quit by any means, but it's easy to get all in your feelings sometimes when you've made a mistake or done something out of character. The conversations in the dugout can get intense, and that's okay." Jones his his fourth home run of the season in the loss. He has 12 steals on the season. Bennett is batting a team-high .457. Hudson Berry was 2-for-3 with two RBIs against Crockett. White also went 2-for-3. "We had guys in scoring position and just couldn't get 'em in," Gillis said. The Blue Devils will return to league play when they visit Johnson County (3-3, 7-3) on Monday. The Longhorns will travel to Erwin on Tuesday. Gillis doesn't anticipate his squad becoming complacent during conference games. "Don't drop one to Johnson County because you think you can beat 'em – because we're obviously beatable," he said. "I'm trying to keep these guys focused and grounded in these conference games."