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Sullivan East Dylan Bartley tags out Volunteer’s Ethan Smith on an attempted steal of 3rd base.
Sullivan East starting pitcher Tyson Mitchell.
Sullivan East SS Corbin Dickenson fields a ground ball and throws to 1st for the out.
Sullivan East Dylan Bartley follows through on a swing on a solo homerun.
Sullivan East Dylan Bartley gets a high five from head coach Mike Breuninger as he rounds 3rd base after hitting a solo homerun.
Sullivan East head coach Mike Breuninger
BLUFF CITY, Tenn. — For the first time that Sullivan East baseball coach Mike Breuninger can remember, his Patriots played seven games before their first conference contest of the season.
It’s working out well, so far. In its Upper Lake Conference opener, East turned back Volunteer by a 9-3 margin on a chilly Monday evening.
With five teams in the Upper Lakes, East (6-2, 1-0) had the bye in league play during the first round of conference play.
“We got to have seven non-conference games before we played our first conference game, which is something we’ve never done. Usually day one, we’re jumping right into the conference,” Breuninger said. “This was a real good way to start out the conference.”
Breuninger praised the caliber of talent across the Upper Lakes, but if East can replicate this effort, the Patriots will be tough to beat. East jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the first inning and Patriots starting pitcher Tyson Mitchell fired a two-hit shutout over the first five innings.
The Falcons (5-3, 1-2) plated one run in the sixth and two in the seventh, chasing Mitchell two outs away from the complete game.
Mitchell said the conditions didn’t bother him, and he kept his arm warm between innings—to the struggles of the Falcons.
“I was a little worried,” Breuninger said. “You looked at the flag and sometimes that flag was going straight out. This might be a hitter’s day today. Tyson did a really good job for us. He’s done a good job all year.”
Volunteer coach Josh Peterson praised Mitchell’s fastball command.
East scored all four of its first-inning runs with two outs, helped by an infield error that extended the frame. Third baseman Dylan Bartley and second baseman Lucas Eaton added insurance with solo home runs in the second and fifth innings, respectively.
A recent Milligan signee, Eaton had the biggest day at the dish of any Patriot, finishing with three of his team’s 12 hits and also scoring three times. Bartley, center fielder Ethan Waters and left fielder Jonathan Beach also had two-hit efforts. Peyton Miller had a hit and a pair of RBIs as the designated hitter.
Austin Goldie had two hits and Ethan Smith scored a pair of runs for Volunteer. Conner Haynes (1-2) threw all six innings and of the nine runs Volunteer yielded, only four were earned.
“Like I told our guys all season, we’ve got to execute. We can’t give outs. You fall in a 4-0 hole like that, giving outs, it’s a little bit of a gasser,” Peterson said. “You’ve got to look at the positives. You can only sit with the negatives so long before you start beating yourself up over it. Take the positives away, roll into tomorrow and get back at it.”
And speaking of positives, Mitchell is feeling good about East’s chances this season.
“I feel like we can really go somewhere,” he said, “if we can get what we need to done.”
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Sullivan East Dylan Bartley tags out Volunteer’s Ethan Smith on an attempted steal of 3rd base.
Sullivan East starting pitcher Tyson Mitchell.
Sullivan East SS Corbin Dickenson fields a ground ball and throws to 1st for the out.
Sullivan East Dylan Bartley follows through on a swing on a solo homerun.
Sullivan East Dylan Bartley gets a high five from head coach Mike Breuninger as he rounds 3rd base after hitting a solo homerun.
Sullivan East head coach Mike Breuninger
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