The Belgreen High School varsity baseball team was eliminated from the Class 1A playoffs last week, falling at home to Appalachian in two games.
Belgreen, hosting a playoff series for the first time in decades, just could not get much to swing its way against the top-ranked team in 1A. However, head coach Nathan Vincent said he was proud of the way his team went out against one of the best teams in the state.
“We wanted to compete and I think we did that, but they’ve got two great arms, they’re 22-2 and the No. 1 team in 1A, so they’re a really good team,” Vincent said. “I think we competed and I wanted to make sure we competed all the way through it, through every inning, and I think we did that.”
The Bulldogs fell in game one 10-2 as the visitors scored in all but the final inning. After falling behind 2-0 after the top of the first, Belgreen tied it up 2-2 in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a bases loaded walk and a sacrifice bunt by Colton Ashton to score Landon Cox.
“We put up those two runs against their number one, which is a plus because I don’t think that guy has given up many runs this year,” Vincent said. “That was the reason I scheduled so many 2A, 3A, 4A teams was because I knew we’d be facing some teams with good pitching like what we saw against Appalachian.”
After that, though, it was all Appalachian. The Eagles retook the lead in the second and never surrendered it. Senior Will King got the start on the mound for the Bulldogs and pitched five and two-thirds innings, surrendering 10 runs, eight earned, off six hits while striking out five batters. He was relieved late in the sixth inning by Rush Berryman, who finished out the game.
Game two’s result didn’t go much better for the Bulldogs. Appalachian once again jumped out to an early lead and led by four runs before Belgreen scratched its first and only run across. A single by Konner Trapp scored senior Alex Guidry to make it 4-1, a not-insurmountable deficit, but the Eagles kept the runs coming across. Appalachian added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth and then three more in the fifth to run-rule the hosts 11-1.
“Appalachian has got some great players, great hitters,” Vincent said. “We had too many walks, too. Seven and eight walks in those two games, so you’re not going to win many games doing that. But the most important thing is we competed and didn’t quit.”
Landon Cox got the start on the mound for Belgreen and was hit with the loss. Cox allowed seven runs, six earned, off five hits and he struck out five. Guidry also made an appearance, tossing two-thirds of an inning, giving up four runs off three hits. Belgreen ended the contest with four errors defensively.
Despite the season coming to an end, Vincent said there is a lot to be proud of with his team this year. Belgreen advanced to the second round and finished the season with 14 wins, a mark few Bulldog teams have accomplished. Things look bright for this young team which, Vincent said, only improved as the season went on.
“Overall we’ve gotten better throughout the course of the year, and even with the youth I’ve got—four starting eighth graders, they made some big plays, and I don’t think the moment was too big for them facing the No. 1 team in 1A,” he said. “I think they embraced the challenge, and I’ve just got to give credit to them. I’m proud of my guys. They competed and that’s all you can ask for.”
Belgreen will lose three seniors—Will King, Alex Guidry, and Emi Jimenez-- who comprise the winningest senior class in Belgreen history, according to Vincent—but the Bulldogs are a young squad overall, and Vincent is convinced this playoff experience will only benefit them in the future.
“Once you go up against the best, like facing the best team in 1A, you can see what you’re made of and go from there,” he said. “With so many young guys in this team, it’s good to face competition like that. It’s why I wanted to face bigger teams in the regular season because I know later on down the road…we’d face teams that can play good all-around baseball. It’s good to get that experience and get better with it.”
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