Appreciate This!

Posted March 30, 2022

You want to keep improving. You want to keep growing. You want to keep winning. However, it is important we do appreciate this run. Going back to 2020, Bulldog Baseball has won 16 of its last 20 games at Scotty Bunton Field. Bulldog Baseball has won 20 of its last 27 overall! Bulldog Baseball is 6-0 on the season!

Waking up on Tuesday morning and hearing the Mitchell County, NC Mountaineers had dropped a tough 4-3 decision to the Unicoi County Blue Devils at Baxter Field in Erwin, and receiving a scouting report that said they could swing the bats and liked to run, we knew we would have to play well! Play well we did. With the Smoky Bear Classic Tournament looming, we had to be strategic with our pitching due to playing Thursday, Friday, and having two games on Saturday. Jonathan Greenwell answered the bell, as the tough, athletic junior threw 37 strikes in his 49 total pitches on Tuesday night, striking out 4 Mountaineers.

Chance Point followed "Johnny G" on the bump, making his career Varsity debut. The lanky, confident, talented sophomore flashed signs of brilliance, as the kid struck out 4 Mitchell batters, against only one walk, in his 3 shutout innings on the Bulldog mound! Collin Morgan followed Point to get an inning of work in the 7th.

Offensively, our lineup is showing depth and versatility. Swinging away or running plays, we are executing right now on offense. Kyler Lewis is giving us more than we, or maybe he, expected on offense, including hitting a 2B on Tuesday night. Collin Morgan continues to give us quality at-bat after quality at-bat, displaying a calm and patience that sets him up for success every time he enters the box. Morgan Lyons and Chance Point proved what they could do in 2021. They are showing how talented they are, as they contribute to wins while still shaking off basketball rust.

Caleb Royston has been an RBI machine early on, but just as impressive are the quality, clutch at-bats he has given us when we needed a big hit, or simply when we needed the ball put in play with two strikes (as he did on Tuesday night). McKinley Kuhn is so unselfish with the bat in his hand. He can hit an extra base hit or put down a beautiful bunt, and the big lefty first baseman has no ill feelings toward being asked to drop one down! Conor Jones is still finding his way, but he is so competitive and has so much grit, he is still hitting .300 on the year. Andon Winters and Seth Hughes are both unselfish teams players, who are both contributing to our winning culture. Kalway Heaton and Collin Eller stay ready, stay supportive, and are playing well on our much improved JV team.