It wasn’t until after the fifth inning that the dust settled a bit. From the opening pitch until then, William Monroe was spraying the ball everywhere at Kiwaanis Park in Salem against John Battle in the Group AA Division 2 semifinals. One crooked number after another went on the board for the Dragons. That was more than enough for starter Jack Morris and a trio of relievers to work with as Monroe cruised 17-5 to earn its spot in the state final in prime position.
“We scored early and it kind of relaxed us,” said Dragons coach Mike Maynard. “The bats kept going, we got the key hits, some walks and they helped us out with some errors and we took advantage of those. We feel comfortable right now and hopefully we get a good night’s sleep and go right at again.”
Before Morris took the mound, the sophomore had a 2-0 lead to work with. In the top of the first Jordan Gentry led off with a walk and was driven in by Logan Forloines on an RBI triple. Forloines then took home on a Battle miscue.
“We came out the gates and just started hitting,” Forloines said. “It got everyone going. Our crowd, they came down with us and got us going and Jack pitched well, just battling up there. We played a complete game today.”
In the second, Monroe tacked on four runs to go up 6-0 and take a commanding lead. A walk to Keegan Woolford was followed by back-to-back bunt singles from Morris and Jacob Hirtz. Gentry then reached on a fielder’s choice to score Woolford. Ryan Morris then provided a 3-run single with two outs.
“I knew when they put Logan on to load the bases they had nowhere to go, they had to pitch to me,” Morris said. “So I was looking for something around the plate and lately I’ve been keeping my head down and swinging well. I knew where that pitch was, I was going to hit it to that position.”
It happened to be in deep left field.
By the third, it was 8-0, this time thanks to a sacrifice fly from Hirtz and an RBI single from Gentry.
Out on the mound, Jack Morris gave up just one earned run in his outing that spanned 4 and a 1/3 innings. The Trojans put two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the first but Morris worked out of the jam unscathed. Battle picked up two unearned runs in the third after some struggles in the outfield, but the sophomore got out of this jam with minimal damage.
“I didn’t have all my stuff with me today so I just tried to let my defense work behind me,” Morris said. “It was definitely a great experience. I’ve been playing with everyone since Greene Machine (travel youth baseball), so it was just great to be out there… gave up some hits, but we got the win and that’s what counts.”
After Monroe made it 9-2 on a Woolford RBI single, Battle answered with one of its own that ended Morris’ day on the mound. Lamar Nelson picked up the last two outs of the fourth. In the fifth, the wheels truly fell off for the Trojans.
Seven runs came in for Monroe in the fith starting with a Hirtz leadoff single. He eventually scored on a wild pitch. Forloines provided a 2-run single. Woolford added another RBI single. An RBI fielder’s choice from Trey Lamb scored another run. Hirtz then reached base again, this time on an error to make it 16-3. In the seventh the Dragons got one more run from an RBI single from Ryan Leake.
Trey Kirby and Dustin Knight closed out the game for Monroe with Battle putting together a 2-run rally in the bottom of the seventh.
Between Morris, Nelson, Kirby and Knight’s work, the Dragons managed to save their ace’s arm for the championship game today against Chilhowie at Kiwanis Park at 10 a.m. After earning the win on four innings work in the state quarterfinals on Tuesday, Jordan Gentry comes off three days rest to start the last game of the year. The Monroe senior has not lost a game on the mound in the last two seasons.
“That’s great that those guys were able to save Jordan for the championship,” Maynard said.
Nelson’s mild two-third’s inning work puts him in prime position should the Dragons need relief effort. The Dragons bullpen did its job in these first two rounds of the state tournament. Now this team sits in a position that so many in the area thought possible, including Monroe itself.
“We talked about this in tryouts, about making it to the (state tournament) and seeing what happens,” Maynard said. “Now we’ve got a chance to play for the championship but we’ve still got to take care of business. Hopefully we get a good scouting report out of (this other semifinal).”
If Chilhowie scouted either the Dragons quarterfinal or semifinal games, they know what kind of challenge rests ahead too.
