Early mistakes sink Warriors in 5-1 loss to Bees

The White County High School baseball team couldn’t find its footing Monday night, as defensive miscues proved costly in a 5-1 loss to Upperman. The Warriors committed five errors, allowing the Bees to build an early lead they never gave back.

Upperman wasted little time getting started, using a double, a walk, and a single to plate a run in the first inning. An error paired with another single in the second stretched the lead to 2-0. The third inning proved to be the difference-maker, as a mix of extra-base hits and defensive lapses allowed the Bees to push three more runs across and take a 5-0 advantage.

White County’s lone response came in the bottom of the fourth. A dropped third strike allowed Preston Taylor to reach base, and Clay Brewington followed with a double that brought him home to cut the deficit to 5-1.

That would be all the offense the Warriors could muster. In fact, nine of their final 12 batters struck out as Upperman’s pitching kept White County from mounting any kind of late push.

Will Thomas got the start on the mound, working 6.1 innings. He allowed five runs — just two earned — on eight hits and two walks while striking out five. Nick Nelson came on in relief to record the final two outs, giving up one hit and striking out one while throwing 13 pitches, nine for strikes.

White County will look to bounce back quickly as the Warriors travel to Baxter tonight for the second half of the series with Upperman before closing out the regular season at Cookeville on Thursday.

WHITE COUNTY BOX SCORE: 

HITS: Austin Pionke 1, Clay Brewington 1, Kolt Norris 1 
RUNS: Preston Taylor 1 
RBI: Clay Brewington 1 
2B: Clay Brewington 
TB: Clay Brewington 2, Austin Pionke 1, Kolt Norris 1 
SB: Griffin Adams 

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