The Farragut Admirals squared off with the Beech Buccaneers on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at Siegel High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn. in the Class 4A State Tournament. (Photo by Tanner Walker)
BY DAVE LINK
MURFREESBORO — Farragut’s baseball team survived a nightmarish defensive game Thursday night and earned a berth in the Class 4A state championship game.
Thanks to its big bats.
The Admirals committed five errors and had 15 hits, rallying for a 13-10 victory over Hendersonville Beech in a state semifinal game at Siegel High School.
Farragut (39-5) will play Nolensville (34-9) on Friday at 7 p.m. CT at Middle Tennessee State University for its third consecutive state title.
The Admirals are playing in their 19th state championship and are going for their 13th title.
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“We’ve got to clean up some defense,” said Farragut coach Matt Buckner, whose team has won 22 straight games. “We probably made seven errors. That’s the worst defensive game we’ve played in their entire career, but you know what? Good teams win when they’re bad, and this is a good team.
“This is a strong team.”
Farragut defeated host Nolensville of Williamson County 5-1 on April 19.
The Knights are making their third appearance in the state tournament and are playing in their first championship game.
“It’s a really strong team,” Buckner said of Nolensville, “good pitching team, good fundamental team, really solid team. It’ll be a great matchup.”
Thursday’s game between Farragut and Beech was delayed 3 hours due to anticipated lighting and storms. The Admirals had to lose twice to Nolensville not to make the championship.
Once it started, Farragut trailed most of the game after taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
The Admirals trailed 3-2 after one inning, 6-3 after four innings, and 7-5 after five innings.
They scored three in the top of the sixth for an 8-7 lead but trailed again 10-8 going into the seventh.
Farragut made an error in each of the first two innings, made two errors in the sixth, and committed another error in the seventh.
“Obviously I was worried,” Buckner said. “We played about as poor as you could possibly play, but with our offense, you can’t ever really count us out. We’ve got so many good offensive players that did a great job today.”
In the top of the seventh, the Admirals scored five runs on three hits while taking advantage of three walks, sending 10 batters to the plate.
Eli Evans’ RBI double in the seventh was a flyball that right fielder Kaden Powell lost in the heavily clouded and darkening skies.
Brennon Siegler had an RBI fielder’s choice, tying the game at 10; Charlie Bozeman followed with an RBI single for an 11-10 lead; and Gavin Brewer then hit a two-run double off the wall in left field for a 13-10 lead.
Buckner’s message to the team before batting in the seventh: “Just be patient.”
“Early in the ballgame, we did such a poor job of being patient,” Buckner said. “We didn’t do a very good job taking good at-bats. We were kind of letting the pitcher dictate everything, and then more towards the end there we were kind of where we are.”
In the bottom of the seventh, first baseman Michael Delph relieved Braylon Hall on the mound and retired the Knights on three strikeouts, pitching around an error and a single.
Senior right-hander Cade O’Leary (7-0) got the start for Farragut, but his tough luck in Murfreesboro continued.
O’Leary got hit in the face with a baseball earlier in the week while he was trying to avoid a cicada flying around him.
On Thursday, O’Leary left the game with an oblique strain after striking out Jackson Kennedy with a 93-mph fastball.
It was O’Leary’s first out of the game, and he left with the game tied at 2-2.
“We thought we got (O’Leary’s injury) whipped, but obviously we didn’t,” Buckner said. “But Braxton (Lewis) did a good job and Braylen (Hall) did a good job kind of holding down the fort, and then Michael (Delph) came in right there (in the seventh) and was pretty good.”
Beech had nine hits, committed one error, and stranded eight baserunners, while Farragut stranded 12.
Senior shortstop Lukas Buckner said O’Leary’s departure may have affected the Admirals. O’Leary, Buckner, and right fielder Landis Davila are Mississippi State signees.
“I think maybe Cade being hurt rattled us a little bit and it could’ve maybe lasted one or two innings,” Lukas Buckner said, “and we were swinging at some pitches we shouldn’t have and kind of pressing the gas a little bit, but I think when we calmed down it really started clicking. I think the first couple of innings maybe we were pressing a little bit with all the crazy stuff going on.”
Buckner, batting in the leadoff spot, was 3 for 5 (all singles) and scored twice. He has 245 career hits and is tied with Curt Powell (2009 graduate) for most career hits in Farragut program history.
Delph, the starting first baseman, was 3 for 4 with a double three RBIs; Brewer was 2 for 3 with four RBIs, including two-run double and solo homer; and Davila and Jake Merrick had two hits each.
Merrick scored three times and Davila and Evans scored twice.
“(Beech) was putting pressure on us every inning,” said Brewer, a senior catcher and Cincinnati signee. “It kind of stressed us out a little bit. We were making errors, but we just kind of trusted each other and we trusted our bats, and it kind of picked up for us right there.”
And it landed the Admirals in another state championship game.
“We’ve been working for this ever since the last one,” said Lukas Buckner, the coach’s son. “Obviously the last one was good, but we had another year to come in and put in more work, and every single guy in the field, every guy on the bench has been there every day when we work. This is what we train for. This is the moment that everyone’s looking forward to, what we all work for.”
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