By John Spargo
The Fannin County Rebels hosted the Murray County Indians Wednesday, February 23, for a non-region baseball tilt. The Rebel’s offense came out and scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back for a convincing 9-4 win.
Senior starting pitcher Jason Pearson got the Rebels off to a good start as he pitched around a first inning error to retire the Indians, giving Fannin a chance to jump out on top early. Junior Bryson Holloway and freshman Carson Callihan got things going with back-to-back singles, and junior Connor Martin reached base on an error to load the bases for the home team.
Pearson drove in Holloway with a single to center, and after a flyout, senior Landon Norton walked to drive in Callihan to give Fannin a quick 2-0 lead. Junior Hayden Danner drove in another Rebel run with a sacrifice fly to left field. The big blow in the inning came next, as senior Jake Kuna cleared the bases with a three-run bomb to give Fannin a 6-0 lead. The Rebels added another run in the bottom of the second inning as Martin singled and scored as senior Chance Stacy reached on an error.
Pearson kept the Indians off the scoreboard as he went four innings and gave up only three hits while striking out three batters.
Murray County finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning, cutting the lead to 7-3. An error, a walk, and a double helped the Indians score two runs, and another miscue and walk gave them their third run of the inning. Murray would tack on another run in the top of the sixth on a single, followed by a wild pitch and a walk, to cut the lead to 7-4 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Rebels got their offense going again in the home half. Martin reached base on another Indian error and sophomore Luke Bright was hit by a pitch. Freshman Bristol Hughes came in to pinch-run for Bright and after junior Clay Heaton was hit by another Murray wild pitch, Fannin had the bases loaded again, this time, looking to put the game on ice. Sophomore Gaige Foster drove in Martin and Hughes with a single to right field, giving Fannin a comfortable 9-4 lead.
Bright pitched the top of the seventh and after a leadoff error, retired the Indians to end the game and give Fannin County a 9-4 win in Blue Ridge.
Holloway, Callihan, Martin, Pearson, Foster, and Kuna each had hits for the Rebels, and Kuna and Foster combined for five RBI’s. Pearson, Norton, and Danner each chipped in an RBI for Fannin County.
Pearson, senior Derrick Peacock, and Bright combined on the mound to only give up six hits and one earned run, while striking out nine Indian batters.
Scoring Summary:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - Final
MCHS 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 - 4
FCHS 6 1 0 0 0 2 X - 9