Farragut senior pitcher Stratton Scott. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — If Stratton Scott truly threw his final pitch in a Farragut uniform on Wednesday, then what a way to go out.
The 6-foot-2, right-hander who has signed to play for the University of Tennessee authored a performance to remember against Siegel High on their home field.
He took a no-hit bid deep into the sixth inning of a Class 4A second round state tournament game, and the Farragut Admirals rode that to a 6-0 win over the Stars.
“You can kind of feel it, that it’s one of those days. Not necessarily your velo day, but you come out and your stuff is working,” Scott said. “Having a great team behind us makes it easy. You can throw a fastball middle-middle and still get a play back there. Makes it easy to pitch with.”
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Farragut ran its win streak to 21 games and improved to 38-5. The two-time defending state champion Admirals must be beaten twice Thursday to not reach the state championship game Friday. They’ll play at 2 p.m. Central against either Beech or Siegel.
Stratton is now 5-0 as a senior with 42 strikeouts against 18 walks in 43.2 innings. His ERA dropped to 1.92 following the win, as he wound up working 6.1 innings with one hit, one walk and six strikeouts.
When Jake Merrick made a heads-up play on a line drive deep into the hole at second base to start the sixth, that seemed like it would be the defensive play to remember from Scott’s would-be no-hitter. Scott then fanned the next batter up, but Gabe Hamrick of Siegel singled on a 3-1 pitch with two outs to break up Scott’s attempt.
He exited in the seventh with one out, giving way to Tennessee Tech signee Braxton Lewis.
“Just dominant curveball, fastball location. He was pretty spot on with everything,” Farragut coach Matt Buckner said of Scott. “He was pretty dialed in.”
Landis Davila went 2 for 2 with two RBIs and Eli Evans 2 for 3 with two RBIs to pace the Farragut offense.
Evans homered for the second time in as many days.
The ETSU signee leads Farragut in batting average (.475), doubles (15), home runs (13), RBIs (65) and walks (40).
“I’m working every day. My swing, I’ll hit for hours and hours, just trying to get my swing right. Those little things,” Evans said. “My mental approach, what I say to myself after bad at-bats, after good at-bats. That’s really helped me a lot.
“I’ve been seeing a sports therapist. She’s been getting my mind right. Shoutout Caitlyn (Hollifield). She’s awesome. She’s helped me a ton.”
As for Thursday, Evans insists Farragut is as prepared and experienced as it can be for the opportunity.
“We’ve been here before. We know what to do,” Evans said. “If we go out there and play our game, I don’t think anybody can beat us.”