The Elizabethton baseball team won a thriller to open the District 1-3A baseball tournament.
The Cyclones outlasted Sullivan East to take a 2-1 victory to advance to the Winner’s Bracket finale. EHS will take on Tennessee High on Friday afternoon at 5p with a berth in the championship game as well as the Region 1-3A tournament on the line.
Sullivan East struck first as the Patriots took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Elizabethton, however, answered in the home side of the frame.
After Brayden Buckles opened the inning with a triple, Buckles crossed home plate off a Bryson Rowland single. JD Hooks hit a sac fly to plate Rowland and give Elizabethton a 2-1 lead after an inning of play.
The Patriots loaded the bases to open the second, but Rhett Slagle recorded two straight strikeouts and EHS forced a flyout to end the threat.
Marshal Holtsclaw hit a double in the second, but EHS was unable to move the runner as the Cyclones maintained a 2-1 advantage.
Neither team was able to take advantage of limited baserunners the rest of the way – including in the top of the seventh as East saw the tying run get to third base – as Elizabethton held on for the win.
Slagle allowed one earned run on three hits with 13 strikeouts to lead the way for the Cyclones. Slagle was also 2-for-3 at the plate.
Hooks finished 2-for-2 with an RBI, while Rowland added a hit and an RBI.
Steven Meadows, BUckles, and Holtsclaw each finished with a hit.