With one mighty swing, Travis Jones completely changed the momentum of the game.
The Edinburgh senior smashed a solo home run Monday afternoon well over Morristown High School’s 340-foot left field fence to start the fourth inning and cut into Waldron’s 3-0 lead.
For the first three innings, Waldron starting pitcher Bryce Yarling was cruising. He faced 11 Lancers and struck out eight.
Yarling walked the next batter after the home run, surrendered a double to Landon Burton and hit Ian Buchanan with a pitch to load the bases with no one out.
The Waldron junior struck out Caleb Turner with the bottom two in Edinburgh’s order coming to the plate.
Gabe Bennett worked a 5-pitch walk that scored Edinburgh’s second run and Nicholas Detling followed with a two-run double to give the Lancers their first lead in the Class A, Sectional 59 semifinal game.
Yarling walked leadoff hitter Jarrett Turner before recording another strikeout. A wild pitch scored Bennett, Jones batted again and walked and Riley Palmeter delivered a two-run single that finally forced Waldron head coach Tommy Coy to make a pitching change.
“They were due,” said Coy of a Lancers program the Mohawks beat twice late in the regular season. “We have beaten them pretty well the last two years and they were due. They got one inning, and you take away that one inning there was nothing.
“We didn’t make any real mistakes behind Yarling and that’s the hard thing about baseball and teaching these kids, no matter how hard you work, failure is still an option and sometimes there is not an excuse – you just fail. The kids really struggle with that.”
Jacob Bennett needed one pitch to get Burton to fly out and end the inning but the damage was done – seven runs on four hits. The Mohawks entered the inning with a 3-0 lead and came out trailing by four.
“I asked Bryce what he thinks, and he said he had it,” said Coy. “He’s our guy. He’s been in tough situations before and come through.”
Bennett did not pitch last season due to an arm injury, but with an effective curve ball, the sophomore kept the Lancers in check.
“I nominated him for all-conference because he didn’t pitch at all last year and he came out and was one of our most consistent guys,” said Coy. “He threw a ton of strikes for us which was a huge problem last year, this year completely changed.”
With the lead, Edinburgh head coach Dennis Smith pulled his starting pitcher, Bennett, and turned the game over to Jones.
Waldron chipped away at the lead, scoring two in the fifth and one more in the sixth but could not get the game back even.
Yarling went 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored for Waldron (7-17). Jacob Lindsey had two hits.
Palmeter went 2-for-3 for Edinburgh (6-15) with two runs batted in. Detling also had a pair of RBIs.
Waldron graduates just one senior, first baseman Bryant Becker, which raises expectations for the 2023 season.
“There are three of four eighth graders coming up that have played quite a bit of baseball that will be guys that will definitely help us,” said Coy. “We are taking steps in the right direction. This is huge for us.”
