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Smoky Mountain clinches share of league baseball championship - Part 1
SMHS's Baseball Team

Smoky Mountain won a share of the Western Athletic Conference baseball championship, its first league title since 1989, with a victory at Pisgah last week. SM opened the state playoffs Tuesday with a 1-0 victory at Ashe County and will travel to West Henderson for a second round game Friday. Team members include, from left: (first row) Dalyn Webb, Brad McAbee, Kyle Bewsey and Derrick Hawk; (second row) Josh Carnes, Jake Lunnen, Dustin Melton, Justin Ray and Justin Hawk; (third row) Coach Tim Hawkins, Matt Hopkins, Trent Dillard, Travis Hipps, Joseph Ensley, Michael Ritchie and assistant coach Ian Roper.

Smoky Mountain won a share of the Western Athletic Conference baseball championship with an 11-1 victory May 2 at Pisgah.

The Mustangs finished tied with Franklin in the WAC at 11-1.

This is SM's first league title since 1989, the first year of the school's existence, when the Mustangs captured the Western Highland Conference 2-A crown. It's the first 3-A conference championship by a Jackson County team since Sylva-Webster won the Little Mac Conference title in 1977 on its way to the state championship.

"It says a lot for these kids," Coach Tim Hawkins said. "They've got a great deal of talent and know how to play the game. It means a lot to me because we've been so close the last three or four years."
Jake Lunnen (8-1) pitched a five-hitter for six innings. He struck out five, walked one and hit a batter. Trent Dillard threw a scoreless seventh.

Kyle Bewsey was three of four at the plate. Lunnen was two of four while Derrick Hawk was two of five with a home run.

"We played as good defense as we have all year and made a lot of nice plays," Hawkins said. "Everyone seemed to have a nice play in the game. As the game went along, we got to swinging the bats better."

The Mustangs scored in the first on Bewsey's single and Dillard's RBI double.

SM took control with a five-run third to go up 6-0. Bewsey singled to start the inning, and Hawk followed with his homer. Dillard walked, stole second and scored on a base hit by Josh Carnes ending the mound work for Bear starter Jonathan Burnette.

Brandon Crawford replaced him but walked all four batters he faced. The last two free passes to Brad McAbee and Bewsey forced in runs.

Lunnen singled in the sixth with a run scoring on a double play ball making it 7-0.

Burnette's homer put Pisgah on the board in the bottom of the sixth.

Justin Ray and McAbee opened the seventh with consecutive doubles for a run. Bewsey had an RBI single, stole second and scored on Hawk's single. Lunnen also had a base hit in the frame with the final run scoring on a wild pitch.

The Mustang JVs ended their season 8-12 after rallying from a 9-0 deficit to edge Pisgah 11-10 at home. They scored four times in the bottom of the seventh to capThe Mustang JVs ended their season 8-12 after rallying from a 9-0 deficit to edge Pisgah 11-10 at home. They scored four times in the bottom of the seventh to cap the rally. Patrick Dowling tripled and scored the winning run on an error.

Brent Robinson was the winning pitcher in relief. Coach Bill Rice said Jared Day pitched well the first five frames although the defense had some problems.

"Our pitching really came around the last five games," Rice said. "Unfortunately, our defense didn't make a lot of fundamental plays. We waited too long in a lot of games to swing the bats."

Dowling, Brody Frizzell and Tony Belcher all went two of four. Both of Dowling's hits were triples.

"We made a lot of individual improvement," Rice said. "As far as the team goes, we've got a long way to go. We have some good kids who will be moving up who will help maintain the winning tradition of Smoky Mountain baseball."

He expressed appreciation to Aaron Tuttle, his assistant, for doing a good job with the pitchers and catchers.

Back to Sports: 05/11/00.