Hendersonville High School Baseball: 2009 Game Summaries

Monday, May 4
HHS DEFEATS OVERTON 3-2

4/29/09 HHS DEFEATS OVERTON 3-2

The Commandos got another solid pitching performance from Matt Griggs, Jeffrey Keyes and Adam Dorris and got key RBIs from Ben Hendrix and Chad McDaniel to beat a solid Overton Bobcat squad who were the winners of district 11AAA this year.  Griggs pitched the first four innings, Keyes tossed the fifth and the sixth to get the win and Dorris tossed a scoreless seventh for his second save of the year.  Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth Ryne Nicholson and Eric Chastain executed a double-steal of 2nd and home to tie the game at 1-1.  Overton rallied for a run in the top of the fifth, but in the bottom of the fifth Ben Hendrix had an RBI grounder to second base to tie the game at 2-2.  With two outs in the bottom of the sixth Chad McDaniel had an infield hit to drive in a run and give the Commandos the lead for good 3-2.  The win closes the regular season for 2009 for the Commandos with a record of 16-12.  



Monday, May 4
HHS DEFEATS STATION CAMP 4-0

With district tournaments looming this weekend the baseball teams at Hendersonville High and Station Camp were just trying to stay sharp in their matchup Tuesday evening at Drakes Creek Park.

Hendersonville’s bats were a little sharper.  The Commandos broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning with a run and broke things open with a three-run fifth en route to a 4-0 win over the Bison.  Hendersonville (15-12) got a strong start from Lundy Slayton and eventually used four relievers when Slayton departed after five innings.  “We had two (pitchers) go against Antioch yesterday, but we wanted to get Lundy at least 50 pitches today,” said HHS Coach Mike Hendrix, whose squad was celebrating Senior Night. “We tried to get as many seniors into the game as we could.”

Slayton was perfect through three innings and allowed just two hits and a walk in five innings of shutout ball.  Station Camp (17-15) countered with junior Sam Strother, who was equally as impressive in the early going.  Strother tossed three innings of two-hit ball before being touched for a run in the fourth. He had a rocky fifth inning and was pulled in the sixth.  “He’s been great for us all season,” said SCHS Coach Jerry Ballard. “He’s had some tough losses against some tough competition. He pitched the last time we played Hendersonville (a 4-2 Commando win). He’s a competitor.” 

 

Slayton’s offense gave him a little help in the bottom of the fourth. Strother walked leadoff hitter Kendall Snyder and Ben Hendrix followed with a single that sent Snyder all the way to third.

Ryne Nicholson’s sacrifice fly brought home Snyder with the game’s first run.

Hendersonville batted around in the bottom of the fifth. The Commandos collected four hits, including run-scoring singles by Daniel Tucker and Nicholson. Hendrix added a sacrifice fly as the hosts boosted the lead to 4-0.  The Commandos went to the bullpen in the sixth and seventh, using three relievers in the final frame. Jeffrey Keys struck out both batters he faced and Brandon Hall recorded a strikeout with two on to end the contest.  “This was (Keys’) best outing,” said Hendrix. “He hasn’t pitched much, but he came in tonight and did a great job. He got two big outs.  “Lundy wasn’t as sharp tonight as he has been. He struggled a little getting his curve over early. He’ll probably pitch Friday or Saturday.”

Added Ballard, “This is the time of year when you want to be sharp. Our defense is playing well and I’m really pleased with that. We’ll get back to scoring runs. We’ve been too good at that this year.”

Station Camp played a District 8-AA Tournament play-in game Thursday at home against Portland. The remainder of the league tourney will be at SCHS as well

Monday, May 4
HHS DEFEATS ANTIOCH 10-0

4/27/09 HHS NO-HITS ANTIOCH 10-0

Zac Curtis and Dennis Jones combined for a no-hitter on Monday night at Drakes Creek Park as HHS defeated Antioch 10-0.  Curtis pitched the first four innings allowing, only a hit batter in the top of the fifth.  Jones came on to strike out the side in the fifth in relief.  The Commandos got on the board in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer from Kendall Snyder.  Snyder had three RBIs on the day to lead the HHS offense.



Wednesday, April 22
HHS LOSES TO BEECH 4-2

Mistakes can make a coach sit back and wonder “what if” for months after a game was played.

Monday night both Hendersonville and Beech made its share of mistakes, but it was two late errors and a walk-off double down the line by Nick Howell that gave the Buccaneers a 4-3 win in nine innings.“I really didn’t think I would even get a chance to get to the plate,” said Howell, just moments after getting the game-winning hit. “Since Jared (Neal) was on third with no outs and there was three guys ahead of me I thought it would be over, or we’d be back in the field before I got up, but I like being up there (at the plate) with game on the line.” Monday night’s contest was billed as the battle of the pitchers with Beech’s Robert Hanson and Hendersonville’s Zach Curtis owning the two best records in District 9-AAA. Hanson that made it eight innings without the decision.“After I gave up the two runs in the first inning I told everyone that I won’t give up any more, so get me three runs and we’ll win this,” said Hanson. “I did give up another, and it turns out we needed four runs, but they came through for me like they usually do.”

Both Curtis and Hanson were credited with three runs a piece, but Curtis exited after the fourth inning, down 3-2.

 Lundy Slayton pitched five innings and gave up one unearned run, but like Hanson, was left with no decision.Hendersonville (12-10, 5-6 9-AAA) got on the board first in the top of the first inning.Daniel Tucker reached after being hit by a pitch, and Austin Harris drew a walk to set up Ben Hendrix single through the right side to drive in Tucker.Jacob Keller came into run for Hendrix, and pulled off a double steal, allowing Harris to score, but was tagged out on a rundown between first and second, leaving the score 2-0.Beech (19-4, 9-0) answered in the bottom of the fourth when Wilson Reece led off with a single through the left side, and then Howell doubled to right to give the Bucs two runners in scoring position. Clay Searcy drew a walk to load the bases, and Taylor Stewart hit a single off the left field fence to drive home the first run, and then P.J. Roman hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to tie the game.Another walk issued to Meadows again loaded the bases, and a last walk to Austin Steele brought home the go-ahead run to make it 3-2.Hendersonville evened the score in the top of the fifth when Colton Mansfield reached on an error, and Chad McDaniel sacrificed him to second, and then Tucker hit a single up the middle to score Mansfield to tie the score.Beech threatened in both the seventh and the eighth innings with runners in scoring position, but the Commandos ended both innings with a double play, and then Hendersonville looked as if it might take the lead in the top of the ninth when Jacob Keller reached on an error, going all the way to second.Mansfield replaced Keller at second and moved to third on a balk with two outs, but Meadows got the last batter to fly out stranding the go-ahead run 90 feet away.The Commandos returned the favor to the Bucs in the bottom of the ninth when Neal reached on an error, also moving to second, and then moved to third on a pickoff play at second when the ball was thrown into center.Hendersonville then intentionally walked both Steele and Brock Haley, and got Reece to hit into a fielder’s choice at home, but Howell hit the first pitch he saw down the first baseline with the fielders in to score the game winning run.“We had our chances tonight, but we let it slip away,” said Hendersonville Coach Mike Hendrix. “We had every chance to put this one away, but we didn’t capitalize when we had runners on and it cost us, but there’s always tomorrow.”Beech Coach Greg Shelton said nothing is ever easy when the two rivals face each other, but he was glad to escape with the victory Monday.“I thought Hendersonville came out and played well, but I wasn’t happy with the way we played,” said Shelton. “That’s not taking anything away from them, but I just didn’t think we played particularly well.“We had too many mistakes, and didn’t hit well, but our pitching kept us in it and gave us a chance to win.”Hendersonville and Beech were scheduled to square off again Tuesday.

Monday, April 20
HHS DEFEATS WILSON CENTRAL 11-3

4/16/09 HHS DEFEATS WILSON CENTRAL 11-3

The Commandos defeated Wilson Central on Thursday night 11-3.   Lundy Slaton picked up his third win of the year on the mound tossing the complete game allowing six hits and striking out three.  Austin Harris drove in three runs and Ben Hendrix drove in four, including a three-run homer to put the game away in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Eric Chastain had two hits as did Daniel Tucker.  With the win HHS improves to 12-7 overall and 5-4 in district 9AAA.  The Commandos will next play at Gallatin on Friday afternoon at 4:00. 



Monday, April 20
HHS DEFEATS SMYRNA 9-8

4/15/09 HHS DEFEATS SMYRNA 9-8

Smyrna scored two runs in the first inning off of Hendersonville starter Dennis Jones. With two outs and no one on base a single and a walk were followed by a bloop single to left field and a single to right to give Smyrna an early 2-0 lead. HHS responded with 6 runs in the bottom of the first. Austin Harris singled to left field with one out and a two-out double off the left-center field fence from Hendrix scored Harris and made the score 2-1. Ryne Nicholson doubled to left center to tie the game at 2-2. Nicholson scored on an RBI single by Eric Chastain to give HHS the lead 3-2. Back to back walks to Colton Mansfield and Seth Owens loaded the bases for Chad McDaniel. McDaniel reached first on an infield single that was mishandled by the Smyrna first baseman allowing Chastain and Mansfield to score and sending Owens to third. The Smyrna infielders had their backs turned to the infield which allowed McDaniel to sneak into second base. As the Smyrna pitcher turned to throw to second Owens raced for home to give HHS a 6-3 lead after one inning of play. Jones was relieved by Jeffrey Keyes in the top of the fifth after giving up the fourth Smyrna run. Keyes allowed a hit but then retired the next hitter he faced to keep the HHS lead at 6-4Smyrna got an unearned run in the top of the 2nd to cut the lead to 6-3 where the game would stay until the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth Seth Owens came to the plate with Eric Chastain on third and Colton Masnfield on second. Owens hit an rbi grounder to the shortstop allowing Chastain to score and giving HHS a 7-4 lead. Brandon Hall came on in relief of Keyes in the top of the sixth. Smyrna scored one run off Hall in the top of the sixth to make the score 7-5. Eric Chastain got the Commandos some much needed insurance in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out rbi single that scored Tucker and Kendall Snyder who had singled and doubled to lead off the inning, making the score 9-5 HHS.The Bulldogs would make things interesting in the top of the seventh with two outs. With no one on and two outs Smyrna got a single, a hit batter and a walk before Hall was lifted for Adam Dorris. Dorris allowed two singles to cut the lead to 9-8 before retiring a hitter for the final out of the game and picking up the save.  

Dennis Jones was the winning pitcher improving to 1-1 and Dorris picked up his second save of the year. With the win HHS improves to 11-7 overall and 4-4 in District 9AAA 



Monday, April 20
HHS DEEATS SMYRNA 8-3

4/14/09 HHS DEFEATS SMYRNA 8-3

Zac Curtis pitched 5 and 2/3 innings of one-hit baseball on Tuesday night at Smyrna as HHS beat the Bulldogs 8-3.  The Commandos were able to open up a 1-0 game in the fifth with three runs as Ben Hendrix drove in his second and third runs of the night with a single to right field to give Curtis all the support he would need. Daniel Tucker had two hits to go along with Hendrix three for HHS.  With the win HHS improves to 10-7 and will next play against Smyrna at Drakes Creek Park on Wednesday night at 7:00. 



Sunday, April 12
HHS GOES 2-2 ON FLORIDA TRIP

The Hendersonville High baseball team went 2-and-2 over the past four days in the Westminster National Classic in Miami, Fla. to take fifth place out of 16 of the top teams in the nation.

“Even though we didn’t finish as well as we might have hoped, I think the trip down here really did us some good,” said Hendersonville Coach Mike Hendrix. “We had chances to win every game we played down here, but a mistake here, and inability to get pitches over the plate in another led to the two losses.”

Tuesday the Commandos took on Martin County Fla. and came up just short 8-6.

Martin County took the early lead, scoring two in the bottom of the first, but the Commandos answered in the top of the second tying the game at two runs a piece.

With one out Britte Underwood walked, and then scored on Eric Chastain’s double.

One batter later Chad McDaniel singled in Chastain to tie the score, but Marin put up a run of its own in the bottom of the inning to give them a 3-2 advantage.

In the top of the fourth Hendersonville evened the score for the second time of the night on Chastain’s second double in his second at bat to make it 3-3.

Martin kept pace, scoring two more in the bottom half of the inning to again retake the lead 5-3.

Hendersonville took its only lead of the night in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs to take a one run lead 6-5.

Kendall Snyder had a two run double in the top of the fifth, and then he scored on Ryne Nicholson’s RBI double to right center.

Martin tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, and then took a lead they would never relinquish in the bottom of the six 8-6.

“We played well enough to win the game with Martin, but we had a couple of costly mistakes there at the end and it cost us the game,” said Hendrix. “We don’t like moral victories, but this is the state runner up last season in Florida, and they had all of their guys back, so I thought we played a really good game against them today.”

Hendersonville wasn’t as fortunate in its game Wednesday against the University School of Miami, losing 12-6.

Things looked good early, as the Commandos put up six early runs in the top of the first inning.

Daniel Tucker led off the game with a triple to right field on the first pitch he saw, and then scored on Austin Harris’ RBI gournder for the first run of the game.

Snyder and Ben Hendrix hit back-to-back singles, and then both scored on Colton Mansfield’s double down the left field line.

Mansfield scored one batter later when Chastain reached on an error at first, and then McDaniel doubled down the right field line to bring home Chastain to account for the six runs.

Miami scored one run the bottom of the second and took a lead it would never give up in the bottom of the third, scoring six runs of their own, and then added five more runs in the next three innings combined for the win.

“Offense wasn’t our problem in this game,” said Hendrix. “We couldn’t find anyone to throw it over the plate, and we tried everyone.

“We went through seven or eight pitchers, and the were all scared or just refused to throw, so we lost a nail bitter.”

That loss forced the Commandos into five versus six showdown, and Hendersonville showed what it was made of and came out and beat the host school, Westminster Christian 2-1.

Lundy Slayton got the win on the mound, going six innings, allowing no walks and one hit, striking out three.

Zach Curtis earned the save coming in the relief in the seventh inning to close the door.

Hendersonville’s only two runs of the night came in the top of fourth when Mansfield drew a walk and then scored on a double by Seth Owens, and then with two outs Owens moved to third on wild pitch and then scored on an errant throw to third.

Westminster only score came on inning later in the bottom of the fifth, but the could only manage the one run, giving the Commandos the win and fifth place.

“Colton did a great job tonight, and we were able to capitalize on their mistakes instead of it being the other way around,” said Hendrix. “Hopefully this will give us the momentum we need once we get back home.” 

Tuesday, March 31
HHS DEFEATS GALLATIN 5-0 by Chris Lynn (Hendersonville Star News)

HENDERSONVILLE - Hendersonville High junior pitcher Zach Curtis had his second dominating performance of the season Tuesday night to give the Commandos their first District 9-AAA win of the year, 5-1 over Gallatin.  Curtis (3-0) struck out 14 batters, allowed only three walks and five hits and gave up no earned runs in the victory.  “This was a big win for us, especially after the way we got beat by Mt. Juliet in our first district series,” said Curtis. “I had a lot of help behind me though, and our guys came through with the run support after we gave up the run and that always helps.”

Hendersonville Coach Mike Hendrix said he was pleased with Curtis’ performance on the mound, but was disappointed with his offense.  “Zach pitched another good game tonight,” said Hendrix. “I’m not real good with math, but he had 17 strikeouts in his last appearance, and 14 tonight, so I think that’s 31 strikeouts, and getting that many strikeouts against some quality opponents is good for all of us. 



Tuesday, March 24
HHS DEFEATS STATION CAMP 4-2

Packed stands watch as Commandos edge Station Camp

By Chris Lynn • Hendersonville Star News • March 21, 2009

Cold weather didn’t deter the fan attendance when the baseball teams from Station Camp High and Hendersonville squared off Friday night at SCHS. Both teams went back and fourth for the first three innings, but the visiting Commandos erupted for two runs in the top of the fifth inning to the take the contest 4-2. “This is what high school sports is all about,” said Station Camp Coach Jerry Ballard. “The was two great teams giving it everything they had in front of a great crowd. I just wish every game was like this.”

Hendersonville’s Lundy Slaton got credit for the win, pitching 3 1/3 innings, striking out six batters, and giving up just one walk of shutout baseball. “Lundy did a good job,” Hendersonville Mike Hendrix. “Dennis didn’t do as well as we had hoped, but he’s going off on two and a half days rest, and that happens. “Station Camp came in with a good game plan. Coach Ballard admitted that they thought it might be a good idea to throw someone that pitched around sixty, and it worked well for a while; we just got a read late and started hitting the ball.”

Hendersonville (4-2) got on the board first in the top of the opening inning when Austin Harris singled, and Eric Chastain sacrificed moving Harris to second in scoring position. Kendall Snyder drew a walk, and then Ryne Nicholson singled in Harris to go up 1-1. Station Camp (5-2) answered in the bottom of the inning when Justin Malkiewicz led off with a walk and then Adam Foutch tripled him in to tie the score at one. Sam Strother got the Commandos in order in the top of the second, and then the Bison took their first and only lead of the game in the bottom of the second. Matt Gray led off the inning with a double to center, and advanced to third on a ground out by Drew Fulcher. Sam Strother’s hard grounder to deep third base scored Gray giving the Bison a 2-1 lead. Hendersonville tied the score in the top of the third as Harris was hit by a pitch to lead things off, and then stole second with two outs to set the table for Ben Hendrix. Hendrix answered the call, singling up the middle to score Harris and tie the score at two. The Commandos took the lead for good in the top of the fifth inning when Snyder singled with two outs, and then moved to second on an arrant throw to first. Hendrix got his second RBI of the night singling Snyder home off a ball that went off the shortstops glove, and then Britte Underwood singled home the second run to make it 4-2.

“The difference in the ball game was their guys stepped up when they needed to and we didn’t,” said Ballard. “We were knocking on the door all night, but they made the plays when it counted.”




Tuesday, March 24
HHS DEFEATS DICKSON COUNTY AND PORTLAND

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3/21/09 HHS DEFEATS PORTLAND 7-2

The Commandos got their third win in a row on Saturday night in a 7-2 victory over Portland.  Brandon Hall picked up the win on the mound for HHS allowing just two hits and striking out eight in 4 and 2/3 innings of work.  Sophomore Adam Dorris came on in relief and picked up his first career save striking out 8 of the ten batters he faced to close out the game.  Dorris did not allow a hit in his 2 and 1/3 innings of work.  

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3/19/09 HHS DEFEATS DICKSON COUNTY 3-0

Junior left-hander Zac Curtis struck out 17 Cougar batters and allowed only one hit during a complete game shutout of Dickson County on Thursday night at Drakes Creek Park.  Austin Harris  had three hits for HHS and scored two runs to lead the offense.