Jake Harris of Farragut baseball. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — As a senior on this season’s Farragut High School baseball team, catcher Jake Harris bore plenty upon his person Thursday. Not only was he wearing the weight of community expectations and team standards at the TSSAA state tournament, but he also walked about in intricate catching gear along with ear piece technology to hear pitch calls from his coach.
And then, there was the fresh gold chain around his neck, too.
“I keep a little ice on me,” Harris quipped.
By game’s end, the smile he wore trumped all the rest.
The four-time defending state champion Admirals were going back to the state title game. How could he not enjoy it?
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Though Farragut had the luxury of losing to Collierville and still having a rematch on Thursday night against the Dragons to try and reach Friday’s title round, Farragut didn’t need the safety net.
The Admirals built a comfortable lead through four innings, and their pitching depth produced once again in a 5-3 win at host-site Oakland. The win marked the second for Farragut over Collierville this week — and, it extended Farragut’s state-tournament win streak to 19 games.
“It’s tradition. It really means a lot, because I’ve grown up in this environment. I’ve been able to be a part of it freshman year through now, and I think we really embody what it means to be an Admiral,” said Harris, an Eastern Michigan signee.
“We’re able to take that mindset, especially when we’re here in Murfreesboro.”
Farragut will play for a fifth consecutive state championship (and 15th overall in program history) at 11 a.m. Central time on Friday at Oakland High School. They’ll face either Houston or Ravenwood.
The game will mark Farragut’s 21st appearance in a baseball state championship game.
Could 6-foot-6 senior Travis Brummitt Jr. throw in the season finale? Possibly, though he took a shot off his hand in the first meeting with Collierville on Tuesday that caused swelling.
But no matter what player Farragut has trotted out to grace the mound this week, he seemed to get the job done when it mattered most.
Braiden Meredith, a junior lefty, got the start Thursday. He went five innings, allowed just two hits and one earned run while striking out three and walking two.
Brody Watkins came in in relief of Joey Ray in the sixth and went the final 1.2 innings without giving up a hit nor a walk.
“I think people just know what their jobs are,” Harris said. “People understand what they have to do in the moment when they come in and they take that moment and they embrace it and they do well.”
The Admirals have posted five or more runs in every game this week. Leading 2-0 Thursday, Farragut summoned an offensive outburst with two outs and no one on base in the bottom of the fourth. Caleb Van Lant singled. Braxton Tye singled. After Harris walked, Aidan Flagg drove in two on a single to left. Neyland Williams followed with an RBI single to center.
Just like that, Farragut flipped a tight game into a commanding lead.
“I think our lineup really showed up in that inning. We hit all the way around that inning,” Farragut coach Garrett Copeland said. “Just good at-bats. It sounds cliche, but just stay in the middle of the field and not trying to do more than what’s necessary.”
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