Indians, Science Hill victorious in District 1-4A tourney

JOHNSON CITY — When Science Hill's baseball team is firing on all cylinders, it looks an awful lot like the scene that unfolded in the bottom of the fifth inning during Wednesday's District 1-4A tournament game against Morristown West. Max Brian was on base after hitting a double and Bryson Carver was on after drawing a walk when Owen Lewis hit a rocket into the right-centerfield gap. A diving attempt by a Morristown West outfielder came up empty, allowing the ball to scoot all the way to the wall as Science Hill's merry-go-round went into overdrive. Lewis scored standing up with a three-run inside the park home run, wrapping up the scoring in Science Hill's 7-0 victory over the Trojans. "I saw him dive for it, and I saw it get past him," Lewis said. "I was like, 'I've got to get there.' I was tired, I'm not gonna lie, but I just kept on going." With the win, the second-seeded Hilltoppers will get another shot at top-seeded Dobyns-Bennett at 5 p.m. on Thursday evening inside TVA Credit Union Ballpark. The third-seeded Trojans will face No. 5 West Ridge in an elimination game at 7:30 p.m. after the Wolves fell to the Indians 13-3 in the opening game on Wednesday. The only suspense remaining at the end of Wednesday's nightcap was whether the Hilltoppers would be able to finish off a combined no-hitter. Starter Levi Torbett threw five no-hit innings before handing the ball over to Luke Edwards, who came on in relief in the top of the sixth. Edwards retired the first five batters he faced before giving up a two-out single that dropped into right field in the top of the seventh inning. "What's funny is I didn't even know until it landed," said Science Hill coach Ryan Edwards. "Then I saw everybody's reaction. That's probably good I didn't know because I'm calling pitches and I don't want that to sway me." Edwards promptly struck out the next batter he faced to finish off the one-hit shutout. Torbett struggled a bit with his control, walking six batters and hitting two others, but the Hilltoppers played great defense behind him to ensure those walks didn't lead to big innings. "Obviously I didn't have my best stuff," Torbett said. "A lot of walks. My coaches and my team had faith in me, and they were there to back me up." "That's an area where we've really improved over the last few weeks," Edwards said of his team's defense. "They're playing with confidence out there, and that's all we want." Carter McKinney went 2-for-4 at the plate, including a two-run double. Haydon Smelser finished 2-for-3 with a walk, and Lewis had a double to go along with his home run. Dobyns-Bennett 13, West Ridge 3 The Wolves struck first, but the Indians responded quickly before eventually putting the game out of reach with a six-run outburst in the fourth inning. After the Wolves manufactured a pair of runs in the top of the first, the Tribe bounced right back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame on an RBI double by Cam Hayworth, an RBI groundout by T.J. Maxwell and a wild pitch that brought Hayworth home from third. D-B extended its lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the second when Jaylen Thomas drove a triple into the right-field corner and scored on a throwing error. The beginning of the end for West Ridge came in the bottom of the fourth when a mix of walks, errors and timely D-B hitting allowed the Tribe to post six runs and take a 10-2 lead. Walker Bishop went the distance for the Tribe, allowing just three runs on six hits in six innings of work, preserving D-B's pitching staff as they prepare to play Science Hill on Thursday. Taylor Blankenship came through with a two-run single for D-B while Hayworth had an RBI double and a run-scoring single. Thomas tripled and also contributed an RBI single while Andrew Reilly walked three times, picking up an RBI when he drew a walk with the bases loaded. Ty Malak led West Ridge with three hits and also drove in a run.