CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – On a brisk Tuesday night, Northeast baseball welcomed in Montgomery Central for a District 10-AAA matchup.
The Indians were able to ride a dominant pitching performance from their starter Dakoda Kessler to a 5-1 victory over the Eagles.
Kessler allowed one unearned run in six innings while scattering three hits and striking out seven batters.
After the game, Montgomery Central baseball coach Todd Dunn discussed what he believed worked well for the junior hurler in the win.
“He’s got great offspeed stuff like you saw tonight,” Dunn said. “Last year, he was going to be one of my main pitchers until we lost the season. He pitched so well in the offseason that we decided to make him a starter. When he’s on and spotting his fastball, he’s hard to hit for anybody because his breaking ball is so good.”
With the loss, the Eagles drop the season series to the Indians and fall to .500 in district play after sweeping West Creek to start the year. Northeast baseball coach Charles Ratliff shared his thoughts on just how competitive the league is shaking out to be.
“Coach Todd (Dunn) and I were actually talking about that earlier today,” Ratliff said. “It just seems like the district is pretty even across the board. Everybody is going to have to play defense, everybody is going to have to pitch and everybody is going to have to hit. Right now, we’re only doing two of the three, so it makes it tough on us.”
Key plays
In the top of the first inning, Northeast center fielder Tyler Webb kept MCHS off the board by showing off his incredible range to make a tough catch and strand three Indian baserunners on the play.
Middle of the 1st
Northeast gets out of a bases-loaded jam in the Top of the 1st on this fine catch from Tyler Webb. Montgomery Central strands three runners in the frame. pic.twitter.com/LoQgNUJNZv— Neil Rye (@NryeTBB) March 24, 2021
“That kid is faster than small town gossip,” Ratliff said. “He can go get it and he does. That’s a plus for us to have some guys who can get us out of some innings and save extra base hits. It’s nice to have that speed that you can’t teach.”
After an RBI double from Timmy Campbell gave Montgomery Central an early lead, the Eagles were able to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Kyle Book scored on a Braxton Barnes’ fielder’s choice.
End of the 4th
After a lead-off walk to start the bottom of the inning, Kyle Book scores on a Braxton Barnes’s fielder’s choice to tie the game at 1-all. pic.twitter.com/abruQdkRi6— Neil Rye (@NryeTBB) March 24, 2021
Montgomery Central later pushed across three runs in the top of the fifth inning to retake a 4-1 lead. Back-to-back base hits from Campbell and Garrett Taylor started the frame before a hit batsman brought the go-ahead run in with the bases loaded and one out.
The Indians were able to tack on two more insurance runs to give Kessler some room to work with.
Middle of the 5th
After this hit batsman gave MCHS the lead, the Indians push across two more runs and now lead 4-1. pic.twitter.com/JCpCuanXk8— Neil Rye (@NryeTBB) March 24, 2021
Dunn shared what he saw from his team offensively in the inning to be able to chase Eagles starting pitcher Cameron Hall from the game.
“I don’t know if he just got tired or had a high pitch count,” Dunn said. “He pitched a great game. Coach (Ratliff) is probably like me in the sense that you have to protect arms early on in the year. Sometimes you hate to take them out, but you have to do the right thing.”
Hall pitched four innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits while recording six strikeouts in the loss.
Northeast junior Evan Primasing threw the ball well in relief, striking out six batters in just 2 2/3 innings of work.
According to Ratliff, going straight to Primasing after Hall was initially removed from the game wasn’t necessarily the correct move even in hindsight.
“Well right now we’re keeping Evan down on his pitch count and working him up slowly,” Ratliff said. “The other guys have had more time on the mound than he has. Plus, pulling him from short as talented as he is there, kind of weakens our defense a little bit. We like the flexibility of keeping him at short as much as we can.”
Indian newcomer Gabrial Eddington tossed a scoreless seventh inning to seal the victory for his team.
FINAL
Montgomery Central 5
Northeast 1 pic.twitter.com/Pw1kj5WDwJ— Neil Rye (@NryeTBB) March 24, 2021
“We had a freshman come in at the end and close which is pretty big for a freshman to come in and close out a district game,” Dunn said. “He didn’t show any nerves.”
Taylor went 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored while Campbell finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Indians.
Primasing, Riley Blanc, Dominic George and Jeremiah Hall all had 1-for-3 days at the plate for the Eagles.
Northeast (3-5, 2-2 D10-AAA) travels to take on Pope John Paul II Thursday, March 25 at 6:15 p.m. for their next contest.
Ratliff hopes to see his team bounce back in short order against the Knights.
“We just want these guys to come out and compete,” Ratliff said. “Put the ball in play, play defense and pitch. Just play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”
What’s next
Montgomery Central (5-2, 2-2 D10-AAA) will hit the road to compete in the 2021 Smoky Bear Invitational March 26-27.
Dunn gave a brief evaluation of his team’s strengths and weaknesses through six games played on the young season.
“I knew defense was going to be our strength and it’s still our number one strength,” Dunn said. “Our pitching has really picked up the last few games. I hope our hitting gets better, but we really couldn’t pitch any better than we did the last two nights.”