Coach pitch baseball team wins District 5, plays Friday at state

Unicoi County Little League's coach pitch baseball team bounced back from a disappointing opening loss to Daniel Boone to win the District 5 tournament last week at Winged Deer Park in Johnson City. After falling 10-8 to Boone on Monday in what coach Joe Longworth described as a disappointing loss, Unicoi rebounded to defeat Johnson City, 13-5, on Tuesday and outlasted Jonesborough, 9-8, in the championship on Thursday. The championship game was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., but didn't start until 9:30 p.m. due to rain and lightning. Wet balls made for some errant throws in the back-and-forth game. "It was a rough game," Longworth said. "Gabe Howard, usually my fifth or sixth batter and my first baseman, got injured his very first at-bat. He hit a deep ball to the fence and was going for third, and there was a close play at third where he tried to slide and hurt his leg. He was out for the rest of the game." But Unicoi overcame adversity to prevail, and better yet, Howard will be back playing when the Blue Devils take on host Goodlettsville in an opening-round state tournament game Friday night. Unicoi led Jonesborough by a run going into the top of the final inning. Jonesborough scored one to tie it. "And then when we came up," Longworth said, "we had to score one or keep playing." So, Unicoi wrapped up what had already been a long night. Kason Rice and Kain Poore got on to put runners on first and second with none out. "And then Dean Mosier came up and hit a shot right up the middle," Longworth said. "The center fielder came up with the ball and Kason kept running from third and there was a play at the plate. If the throw was on target, Kason's out. But it wasn't, and he scored to win the game for us." The victory against Johnson City, Longworth says, was the pivotal performance. Following that win, Unicoi needed some help from Johnson City, and attended its game against Boone on Wednesday. "Boone had to score at least three, but Johnson City had to win by like at least seven in order for us to go to the championship," Longworth said. "And Johnson City beat Boone like 11-3 or something. It happened exactly like we needed it to for us to get the run differential to go, because all of the teams in our bracket went 1-1." The lopsided victory against Johnson City was somewhat of a surprise, especially after the sloppy loss to Boone. "We came in our first game against Boone and everybody was a little gun shy, and they didn't really hit and run like they should," Longworth said. "A couple of balls went past our outfielders. And then we had to come out against Johnson City, and Johnson City usually wins it. So, we told 'em, 'Just do your job and you'll be fine,' and then we run-ruled 'em in five innings." Shortstop/leadoff batter Colton Longworth went 3-for-3 in all three games. Levi Patten (third base), Jones Janis (left-center field) and Braylen Perea (second base), the respective Nos. 2-4 batters in the lineup, also consistently produced at the plate throughout the tournament. "Their bats were hot, always coming through, producing," Longworth said. Unicoi contributors include Ohlin Silvers, Milo Harris, Tray Watson, Emette Wilson and Clayton Kodak. The coaching staff includes D.A. Silvers, Buddy Perea, Logan Rice and Isaac Harris. Longworth anticipates a stiff test in the state tournament opener, but likes his team's chances if it plays like it did against Johnson City. "I told 'em if we play like we played against Johnson City every game there's no reason we can't go down there and win state," Longworth said. "And they're eight years old, so you never know which version you're gonna get. But hopefully we will. It'd be cool to come back with a state title."