Stewarts Creek High School Baseball Defeats La Vergne High School, 9-3

By Heath Pope

Motlow Buzz Reporter

SMYRNA, Tenn.-- Stewarts Creek High School Baseball defeated La Vergne High School on April 19 in La Vergne by a score of 9-3, propelling the Red Hawks to the number one spot in district play.

The Red Hawks played well on both sides of the plate, while on the road against the Wolverines. Pitcher Austin Steel earned the win against Anthony Norman, the pitcher for La Vergne, allowing eight hits and three runs but striking out nine on the night. The win improves the Red Hawks district record to 12-4, while being 18-7 overall on the season.

"I hope it takes some pressure off our hitters,” said Steel. “We feel like all we need is one run and take a lead and play solid defense.”

La Vergne couldn’t drive home runs against Steel, who has been phenomenal this season being 6-0 as a starter. Daniel Freeman’s two-run homerun opened up the flood gates for the Red Hawks’ scoring on the night.

This win for SCHS highlights the athletic success that the entire school has been seeing this year. Since the school opened in 2013, it seems like all of the athletic departments have improved significantly into a real threat in not only regional play, but competing for state honors as well.

“Our coaches never made excuses and have always strived for excellence,” said SCHS Principal Dr. Clark Harrell.

On March 8, SCHS women's basketball team made it all the way to state but fell just short to Dickson County in a game that took two overtimes. The Lady Red Hawks finished the season 23-7, second in the district and their best overall record as a program.

The SCHS football team made huge strides this past fall, making it into the Region

5-A playoffs for the first time in school history with a district record of 5-2. This is a huge deal for the team and Coach David Martin after struggling the first two seasons to earn a few wins. Last year, the Red Hawks barely missed the playoffs, and the team did not shy away this year, finally making it happen for the school.

SCHS has seen a steady incline of winning, experiencing success in every area of athletics. This has been a year they will never forget. With women's basketball making it to the state playoffs, men's basketball making it to regionals, football making the regional playoffs, and the success baseball and softball are having, SCHS is going to be a major threat for a while in district 5-A.

 "To be a part of this starting of a tradition is special for the parents, faculty and students involved,” said Harrell. “It’s just special.”

For more information about athletics at Stewarts Creek High School, visit http://www.dnj.com/search/stewarts%20creek/

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Motlow Baseball Attempts to Repeat Success

By Hunter Ferrell

Motlow Buzz Reporter

            SMYRNA, Tenn. – This year’s sophomore-loaded 2015 Motlow Baseball team hopes to follow up a very successful 2014 season that included a National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament appearance.

 The 2015 Motlow baseball team has struggled this year with a record to prove it. Having an 11-28 record while being 7 -17 in conference play is not the way the players hoped to follow such a successful season. Last year's team finished with a 40-24 record, earning a trip to the NJCAA tournament after finishing second in the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association tournament.

“We have had our struggles in all aspects of the game,” said freshman pitcher Conner Boyd. “At times we have shown the potential to be a good team. If we can piece it all together, we can make a run in the tournament.”

          Heading into the weekend of April 24-26, the Bucks have a tough match-up against the number one team in the conference, Walters State, which has 11 Division I transfers.

 "We may not be able to finish first this weekend, but can start playing good baseball heading into the tournament,” said Head Coach Dan McShea, when asked about the upcoming games.

This year’s TCCAA baseball tournament will be held in Chattanooga, Tenn., from April 29 to May 3. The Bucks hope to be playing well into the tournament to keep their chances of a NJCAA tournament bid alive. 

“We’re young but hard working,” said Boyd. “We have a lot of potential to shock some people in the tournament.”

         This year's team has nine sophmores that would hate to go out with a bad taste in their mouths. It has also received great contributions from freshman Aaron Hobbs, Hunter Nance, and Conner Boyd. The players hope this combinations of youth and experience will Help them in the tournament.

The Bucks hope to start this weekend on the last stretch of the season. You can follow the rest of their season at www.motlowsports.com or on Twitter @MotlowSports.

Vandy Baseball to Struggle Even After Thumping MTSU

 

By Thomas Zaleski

Motlow Buzz Reporter

NASHVILLE, Tenn.- - The Vanderbilt University baseball team defeated Middle Tennessee State University, 19-1, at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tenn., on April 15 with 2,364 people in attendance, but Vanderbilt continues to struggle this season.

Coach Tim Corbin and the Commodores thumped MTSU after a great pitching performance by Vanderbilt starting pitcher Walker Buehler, a sophomore from Lexington, Ky. Buehler pitched 5.1 innings, giving up only three hits and one run, and striking out nine MTSU batters. It was one of the best outings Buehler has had this season and was much needed for the struggling 'Dores.

Vanderbilt started the game off on the right foot to say the least. The 'Dores opened up the game by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning, and they never looked back. The team poured in another four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and slammed the door shut on the Blue Raiders after scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

            The 'Dores were led by Xavier Turner, a sophomore third baseman from Sandusky, Ohio, who extended his hitting streak to an SEC-best 23 games with an RBI double to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Turner has been Vanderbilt’s most reliable hitter on the season. Turner is batting .310 and has two home runs, along with 26 RBI’s on the year.

“I was just pleased with Walker more than anything,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin. “He established himself right out of the gates, which was good for us because you’re coming out of a weekend where we lost and we needed some good mojo to start. I think he did that. The energy, the pace, the delivery was on queue."

As of April 14, Vanderbilt is 29-10 overall this season and 8-10 in the SEC, which is a huge disappointment following the 2013 season. In 2013, the Commodores ended the regular season 54-12 overall and 26-3 in the SEC. The 26 SEC wins set a record in the Southeastern Conference for conference wins in a single season.

“We really aren’t worried about the regular season records and standing, but here at Vanderbilt we have big expectations from our baseball program in the post season, especially after being ranked in the top five for the first half of the season this year,” said current MTSU student and lifelong Vanderbilt fan Tyler Short. “With that being said, I still believe with the talent on this roster Vandy should be winning more games than they have at this point in the season."

The Commodores, ranked 15th in the nation, look to finish the season strong with a series win against the Arkansas Razorbacks, a single game against the Memphis Tigers, a series against the Georgia Bulldogs, a series against the Missouri Tigers, a series against the Florida Gators, and the final series on the season against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

For more information on Vanderbilt baseball, visit www.vucommorodores.com

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