Jr. 'Clones split with Sevier

from staff reports

   KINGSPORT -- The road was rocky and the road was smooth for the T.A. Dugger baseball team on Saturday afternoon at J. Fred Johnson Stadium.
   The rocky part came in the form of a 9-1 loss to John Sevier in opening game of a Middle Seven Conference doubleheader. The smooth part came in game 2, which resulted in a 6-5 Junior Cyclone victory.
   T.A. Dugger (3-1) had a 1-0 first-inning lead in the opener, but fielding mistakes proved to be a downfall for the Junior Cyclones as Sevier tallied seven unearned runs throughout the contest.
   It was still a contest until the fifth, where the Indians tallied six runs.
   Ryan Kennedy, Aaron Bray, Adam Grindstaff and Nick McNeal had one hit apiece for the Junior Cyclones.
   The second game saw Cory Pearson do a good job on the mound for TAD and pick up the win.
   The Junior Cyclones, who erased a 5-1 deficit with a five-run third, only had three hits in the game but made the most of them.
   Pearson, Travis Bishop and Justin Conway each accounted for a TAD hit.
   "The second game we really battled tough and had a total team effort," said Junior Cyclone coach Jason Carter. "Sevier has a really good team, so we're real happy to get a split at Sevier. We're pretty happy with where we are."