East Hamilton right fielder Josh Aslinger slammed a pair of three-run homers and added two singles to lead a 15-hit attack that clobbered Soddy-Daisy, 12-3, as the Hurricanes won the District 5-AAA baseball tournament title.
photo by Dennis Norwood
ATHENS, Tenn. – East Hamilton coach Steve Garland was confident his baseball team could win the District 5-AAA baseball tournament championship in one game.
Garland’s counterpart, Jared Hensley, was hoping for a long night and that meant the Trojans would have to force a second game to decide the title.
Garland and the second-seeded Hurricanes dominated the night with a statement game for the ages.
Right-fielder Josh Aslinger, well known for his defensive antics in the outfield, slugged a pair of three-run homers, added two singles and led a 15-hit attack that buried the No. 1-seeded Trojans, 12-3, Tuesday at McMinn County High School.
“I had two home runs against Grace Academy last year, but these two felt absolutely amazing,” Aslinger, a 17-year-old junior, said after his super six-RBI performance. “I’ve been seeing the ball better and toward the end of the season I’m definitely on a streak.”
Versatile Nick Woods, a shortstop/starting pitcher/reliever who is handy with the bat as well, threw a complete game five-hitter and helped his own cause with a 3-for-3 effort, scoring a run and driving in one.
Three other Hurricanes – Matt Milita, Matt Watters and Kyle Cox – each had two hits. That trio also accounted for seven runs, three by Milita, a fleet-footed center fielder.
“We saved our best for the title game,” Garland said, after being doused with a bucket of ice water near the mound. “This is the best we’ve swung the bats all year. It’s not even close.”
East Hamilton (19-11) endured a bumpy season, but caught fire at the right time, rolling through the tournament with three consecutive wins by outscoring McMinn County and Soddy-Daisy (twice) 24-4.
The Trojans (19-9) also hit a couple tourney speed bumps, losing to the Hurricanes, 3-1, on Sunday and falling into the loser’s bracket. They rebounded with a 5-3 win over Ooltewah, but fell flat on Tuesday before a small crowd at Cherokee Stadium.
“This is another case of being the bridesmaid and never the bride,” Soddy-Daisy coach Jared Hensley said. “We’re extremely disappointed. We’ve played in six of the last seven region tournaments and we’ve been to the district tournament championship six of the last seven years. And we’ve lost five times. We’ve got a lot of silver trophies, but I wanted a gold for these seniors, who have fought through a lot the last few years.”
The Hurricane now sets their sights on hosting a Region 3-AAA game on Monday, most likely at 5 p.m.
East Hamilton now has a home field – minus lighting – for the first time in the school’s six-year history, so the regional game against District 6-AAA’s runner-up will be historic as well.
“It’s going to feel great hosting a region game because we feel real good at home,” Milita said. “We’re going to enjoy this one for a couple of days and then get back to work.”
Soddy-Daisy was the pre-tournament favorite – the Trojans won 10 of 12 district games – and secured a regional berth before the tournament began.
But the Trojans will have to hit the road for the region semifinal.
District 6-AAA is currently in the middle of two best-of-three series pitting Cookeville and White County and Warren County and Rhea County. The two series winners will play one game for the district championship at the highest seeded finalist on Thursday.
The Hurricanes were jacked.
Literally.
Milita was hit by a Gavin Rogers pitch starting the Hurricanes’ first inning. He went to second on Watters’ sacrifice bunt and to third on Cox’s single to right.
Aslinger, who added another nice running catch in right for the first out in the Trojans’ seventh, jacked an eye-high pitch and whistled it out of the ballpark for a quick 3-0 lead.
In the fourth and still facing Rogers, Milita got a four-run rally started with a bunt single. Watters singled to right. Cox doubled Milita home for the fourth run.
Aslinger freaked out the Trojans with another three-run blast, almost to the same spot he hit the first one over the fence, giving the Hurricanes a 7-3 lead.
“Josh has been hitting all season,” Woods said. “Those home runs were absolute tanks.”
Said Garland, “Josh came up huge tonight. We say, lovingly, that he’s from another planet, but he sure can hit. If somebody makes a mistake, he can hurt you.”
With one out in the fifth, Garett Stone was hit by a pitch and Milita doubled him to third. A Watters single plated Stone and Milita and the advantage swelled to 9-3.
After Cox lined out to Andy Wright at third, Aslinger – yeah, that guy again – singled to put runners at the corners. Woods drove in Watters with his third hit and Aslinger raced around to score when Jimbo Collins overran the ball in left for a two-base error.
Nick Fahler clothes-lined a double to right-center to score Jeffrey Coleman, who was running for Fahler, with the Hurricanes’ final run.
“Everyone was hitting great today,” Aslinger said. “I came up big, but it’s about the other guys doing their jobs and allowing me to do my part.”
Woods gave up all three Soddy-Daisy runs in the second and third innings, but held the Trojans to just two hits over the final four. He struck out five and walked two.
Woods walked Wright to start the fourth, but Grant Cordell grounded to third and Watters started a 5-4-3 double play. Woods fanned Justin Cooke for the third out.
Dillon Clift doubled to open the fifth and stayed right there. Rogers grounded out. Wright struck out and Cordell grounded out. In the seventh, Woods retired the Trojans in order.
“I felt great out there,” Woods said. “Our bats really came alive. We had an offensive explosion. My fastball wasn’t so great, but the curve and off-speed pitches were great, especially when I was behind in the count.”
Soddy-Daisy’s runs came on Cordell’s laser-beam, two-run homer in the second and Clift’s solo shot in the third, his second homer in as many days.
That was little solace to the senior.
“We didn’t have the will to win and this was pitiful,” he said. “Ever since the Ooltewah tournament we have not consistently played as a team. We can figure this thing out because we’ve done it before. We can do it again.”
Hensley will give the Trojans five days to solve the internal problem.
“I’m the captain of the ship and I take full responsibility for their lack of unity,” he said. “They have about five days, and I told our 2011 group the same thing, to figure out how to play for the guy next to you and not yourself.
“They have to figure out how to be a good team, and we haven’t done that since Week 2 of the season.”
Hensley would like to see his players put more punch in the offense and that starts with making better contact at the plate, instead of lifting harmless popups and lazy fly balls to the outfield.
Like East Hamilton was doing Tuesday.
“We’ve popped up 36 times in four tournament games,” the feisty Hensley said. “Every night in Major League Baseball stadiums around the country, you can see shirtless guys with a beer in their hands catching pop flies barehanded. Anybody can do that.”
LINESCORE
Soddy-Daisy 021 000 0 – 3 5 3
East Hamilton 300 450 x – 12 15 0
Rogers, Workman (5) and Clift; Woods and Fahler.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Right-handed pitcher Nick Woods threw a complete game five-hitter and held Soddy-Daisy scoreless over the final four innings, helping East Hamilton defeat the Trojans. Woods also went 3-for-3, scored a run and drove in one in a 12-3 win.
photo by Dennis Norwood