Hayesville Yellow Jackets Win Season Opener

The Hayesville Yellow Jackets started off their season with a very tough task. A road trip all the way to Rosman to face the always tough Tigers. The Yellow Jackets were led by Connor Bradley, Avery Leatherwood, and Jeremy Stewart. The first two had big days at the plate while Stewart had a great day on the mound. The Yellow Jackets came away victorious winning 8-1 to open their season.

1st Inning:

The Yellow Jackets got off to a quick start with Connor Bradley leaving the game off with a double. Followed up by a Braxton Cherry single and then Jeremy Stewart got walked to load the bases. The next two batters struck out though, making it look like the Tigers might escape the inning without giving up any runs. Avery Leatherwood came up clutch though with a double to give Hayesville an early 2 run lead. Jeremy Stewart pitched through a tough first inning. Rosmans lead-off hitter got on by error, then Stewart walked the next batter. Then two flyouts and a strikeout got the Yellow Jackets out of the inning with a 2-0 lead.

2nd Inning:

After lots of action in the first inning, the second inning was rather quick. The Yellow Jackets 9,1,2 hitters all flew out for a  1-2-3 inning. Then in the bottom of the inning, Stewart pitched a 1-2-3 inning as well with a strikeout to end the inning.

3rd Inning:

The Yellow third at-bat did have a little excitement as they got several runners on base. Yet Rosman escaped the inning via strikeout with Hayesville having runners on first and second. The bottom of the third inning saw Stewart continue to pitch well, another 1-2-3 inning this time with two strikeouts. 

4th Inning:

The Yellow Jackets found their offensive punch once again in the 4th inning. The first two batters of the inning got on base via an error. Then Hayesvilles leadoff hitter Connor Bradley knocked both of them in with a 2-RBI single. Jeremy Stewart helped himself out a little with an RBI single, to score Bradley. Then in the bottom of the inning, Stewart had another 1-2-3 inning retiring his ninth consecutive batter.

5th Inning:

Dakota Matheson got on base to start the inning and then Bradley hit a two-run home run to increase the Yellow Jacket lead to 7-0. Braxton Cherry followed it up with a triple then Stewart picked up another RBI single to increase the lead to 8-0. Other than a walk in the inning, Stewart did pitch another scoreless frame. 

6th Inning:

Avery Leatherwood the Hayesville catcher did pick up his third hit of the game this inning. Yet that was the only offense in the inning by Hayesville. In the bottom of the inning, Rosman finally got on the board. Yet they could only scrape across one run but Stewart’s night pitching was finished as he hit his pitch limit striking out the last batter he faced.

7th Inning:

The Yellow Jacket offense was quiet in the seventh inning hoping they had put up enough runs to win. Hayesville would bring on Clayton Vandiver to close out the game, his first-ever varsity pitching performance. Vandiver pitched a great inning, inducing three ground ball outs to get the save. With Hayesville winning their first game of the season 8-1.

Hayesville Notable Stats:
Jeremy Stewart: 2-4 batting with 2 RBIs, 6 innings pitched 1 R, 0 ER, 8Ks, 3BBs, 1 H

Clayton Vandiver: 1 IP 1 save

Avery Leatherwood: 3-4, 1 Double, 2 RBIs

Conner Bradley: 4-5, 2 Doubles, 1 HR, 4 RBIs

Hayesville will next play on Friday, April 30th at the Andrews Wildcats. To get updates or see how the Yellow Jackets have done tune in to all the latest FYN sports coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at https://claync.fetchyournews.com/category/teamfynsports