Article by Criag Harris (Gallatin News Examiner)

 MURFREESBORO – Baseball teams enjoy walk-off wins.

Hendersonville High's state-tournament opponents had too much fun for the Commandos' liking.

For the second consecutive game, Hendersonville fell in the bottom of the final inning, with senior Christian Busby's single giving Bartlett a 4-3, eight-inning victory over the Commandos in a Class AAA State Tournament losers bracket contest played at Oakland High's Mack Hawks Field.

"We had chances," Hendersonville senior leftfielder Braden Schwerdt said. "We just left runners on."

The Commandos suffered an 8-7 loss to Soddy-Daisy in its state opener on Tuesday afternoon, squandering leads of four and three runs in that contest. That game ended when a batter was hit by a bases-loaded pitch.

"It comes down to pitching," Hendersonville head coach Mike Hendrix said. "Grant (Williams) gave us a good thing. (Will) Wacaser pitched five good innings (Tuesday) night.

"We just couldn't get it done with whatever else we had."

All of the Commando runs on Wednesday came via two-out hits.

However, it was a squandered opportunity in the top of the eighth that proved costly.

Senior Austin Brown singled to centerfield with one out in the inning, and classmate Ben Smith followed with a double down the rightfield line.

That brought senior C.J. Burrow on in relief of classmate Jackson South, with both of those pitchers using a side-armed delivery.

Senior Jarcques Wordlaw drew a full-count walk to load the bases, but Burrow worked out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout to senior third baseman Parker Wilson.

"We thought that was our chance," Schwerdt said. "It gives them a little momentum going into the bottom of the inning.

"They capitalized."

Hendrix added, "It really hurt when we had the bases loaded with one out and didn't score. I thought about squeezing (a squeeze bunt), but the guy made good pitches. Good pitching will get good hitting sometimes."

Panther junior Barrett Taylor singled to lead off the bottom of the inning and moved to second base thanks to a wild pitch. Senior Ryan McBride followed by laying down a bunt that was fielded by senior third baseman Connor Fischer, and Fischer threw to shortstop Justin Long at third base, who tagged out Taylor.

Junior Jacob Nobles followed with a single through the right side of the infield, allowing Taylor to move to third base.

Then, Busby singled to deep leftfield to end the contest.

The two teams traded runs over their first three turns at-bat. Hendersonville senior leadoff hitter Connor Fischer was hit by a first-inning pitch, stole second base and scored on Brown's single up the middle.

Then, Wilson singled in junior leadoff hitter Justin Ammons in the bottom of the first.

Wordlaw drew a second-inning walk, moved to second base when junior Cooper Brenning grounded out and scored on Schwerdt's single through the left side of the infield.

The score remained at 2-1 until a fielding error opened the door for Bartlett to take the lead by adding two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

That was the only error of the game.

Busby scored the first run of the fifth inning on Wilson's groundout, and the second run scored from third base as senior Drew Hollis scampered home ahead of the throw from Long – the shortstop – as a baserunner was initially caught in a rundown between first and second base.

Williams singled down the leftfield line in the sixth, and junior courtesy runner Aris Welden moved to second base when Brown grounded out and scored on Smith's double to the right-centerfield wall.

Smith, Brown and Schwerdt all had two hits, accounting for six of the Commandos' seven.

"I'm so glad to see Ben step up," Hendrix said. "He's been playing since the Clarksville game (in the Region 5-AAA semifinal round) with a broken thumb.

"They busted their butts. They've played hard. They made some mistakes, but we've had a lot of guys step up since last Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We just didn't get a lot of timely hits."

The Panthers (27-8) actually rallied with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, with senior Jonathan Bowlan lacing the first pitch he saw into leftfield for a single. Junior pinch runner Josh Milzarek attempted to score from second base on the play, but Schwerdt's throw to Brenning at home plate was in time to tag Milzarek out, forcing extra innings.

"I knew if it was going to be hit it to me that I had to get to it quick," Schwerdt said. "I got lucky. I fielded it clean and made a good throw."

Williams tossed the first seven innings, allowing three unearned runs on seven hits. He issued five base on balls and struck out five hitters.

Sophomore right-hander Andrew Dorris (2-2) came on to start the eighth and was saddled with the loss.

"I'm very proud of these guys," Hendrix said. "Dorris got some experience.

"I'm very thrilled to be a part of this program, to have had the opportunity to go to the state tournament five times. I'm blessed."

Schwerdt added, "We knew we needed more than three runs to win the game. We knew it was going to be tough. We had a few key hits. We just needed a couple of more to win games like that."

Hendersonville (33-13) had won seven consecutive games before dropping its first two state contests.

"It's been a lot of fun," Schwerdt said. "We've dogpiled three times (in on-field celebrations after the district championship, region championship and sectional victories) and set a record for wins (equaling the single-season record of 33 victories). It was nice to get here. When we got here, we knew we didn't want to do this, go out 0-2. We had a chance. We just didn't capitalize."

Hendrix added, "You have to have the players to get here. Sometimes, you have the players – like the year with Zac Curtis (2010) – and it doesn't work out. It worked out this year. We have most of the pitching staff back next season, but we have a lot of holes to fill. We have to get these guys out there and play this summer."

Schwerdt is one of the team's 10 seniors, along with Brown, Fischer, Long, Smith, Wordlaw, Alec Nelson, Matthew Osborne, Drew Richard and Ethan White.

"They're great kids," Hendrix said. "They're the reason we are here. They're great kids, and they will go on and make something out of themselves. Hopefully, they will grow up and become good fathers and family people. That's the name of the game."

Schwerdt added, "It's nice to know we made it to the state tournament. It's tough seeing it end. I've been playing with some of these guys since I was nine years old. I'm going to miss them. It's a good season to end on."

Bartlett advanced to face Soddy-Daisy – which suffered a 6-1 loss to Hardin Valley in Wednesday afternoon's winners bracket final – in an elimination game that was slated to be played later on Wednesday evening.

Sports reporter Craig Harris can be contacted at 575-7138.

 

Hendersonville 110 001 00 – 3 7 1

Bartlett 100 020 01 – 4 10 0

Grant Williams, Andrew Dorris (8) and Cooper Brenning; Josh Smith, Jackson South (6), C.J. Burrow (8) and Andrew Miller. WP – Burrow. LP – Dorris (2-2). Records: Hendersonville 33-13, Bartlett 27-8.