Eagles slug, pitch way to dominant tourney-opening win

By Maurice Patton

MURFREESBORO – Gavin Burleson and his Summertown teammates had heard about Kaleb Meredith, the University of Tennessee commitment that started for University School-Johnson City in the Class A baseball state tournament opener Tuesday.

They weren’t impressed.

Burleson had a leadoff double and came around to score as the Eagles knocked Meredith out in a five-run first inning on the way to an eventual 10-0, five-inning victory at Riverdale High School.

Summertown (29-8) will face East Robertson, a 10-0, five-inning winner over Lake County, in the winners bracket semifinal at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Meredith and three other Buccaneer pitchers surrendered 11 hits in the loss.

“We came out swinging well. That was big, (to) get up there and hit the ball,” Burleson said.

Meanwhile, Burleson threw just 52 pitches in the victory – recording just one strikeout, but limiting the Bucs (22-14) to three hits.

“All year, he’s been efficient,” Summertown coach Jason Burleson said after the victory. “We were going to get him out in the fifth; we can bring him back Thursday if we need to.

“The pitch count makes it tough when you’re here. You’re trying to save guys for the next day, Thursday, Friday.”

Summertown was able to pretty quickly turn its attention to its next encounter – backing up the five-run first with back-to-back home runs from Grant and Lane Burleson in the second inning, then adding two on a Grant Burleson double in the fourth before closing the contest out with a Jake Smith one-out base hit that scored Skyler Trousdale with the final run.

“It’s way more comfortable out there when you’ve got a lead,” Gavin Burleson said. “We just went out there and filled (the strike zone) up and kept them off the bases.”

Burleson worked out of a bit of trouble in the visitors’ opening at-bat, giving up a couple of two-out singles before ending the inning with a flyout. However, University School’s only other hit came to lead off the third, and he retired the next three hitters on a pair of flyouts and a fielder’s choice.

Seven of the nine Eagles starters had at least one hit, with Grant – named Class A Mr. Baseball by the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association earlier Tuesday – Lane, Grayson Burleson and Smith each picking up a pair.

“They squared the ball up well,” University School coach Josh Petty said. “They hit a lot of line shots right at us. Sometimes those are the hardest ones. They hit it gap-to-gap and they pitched it well.”

The Buccaneers were making their third consecutive state tourney appearance.

“We always seem to get a tough draw,” he said. “We had (Loretto’s Ryan) Weathers his senior year. This time, we probably drew the two best teams down here in Summertown and East Robertson. But you’ve got to go play.”

Jason Burleson was pleased with the offensive performance.

“When we hit through the lineup, we have a pretty good chance,” he said. “We hit through the lineup, we moved runners.”

Summertown 10, Univ. School-Johnson City 0 (5 inn.)

U 000 00 – 0 3 0
S 520 21 – 10 11 0

Kaleb Meredith, Daniel Grindstaff (1), Joseph Kent (4), Jesse Greene (4) and Cade Pollock. Gavin Burleson and Drake Blackwood. W: Gv. Burleson. L: Meredith. HR: Summertown – Grant Burleson, Lane Burleson.

Photos by Rob Fleming / SM-Tn Sports

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