Siegel baseball runs out of gas, falls to Beech in TSSAA state elimination game

Siegel's baseball team battled several odds to get to where it did in the TSSAA baseball state tournament.

But after a loss early Wednesday, followed by several hours of a weather delay and then extra innings, the clock almost literally struck midnight for the Stars.

Siegel ended its season at 33-14 after a 4-3, eight-inning loss to Beech in the Class 4A losers bracket at Siegel High late Wednesday, a game that didn't end until after 11 p.m. after it was originally scheduled to begin at 5:00.

"I felt like maybe we did (run out of gas)," Siegel coach Craig Reavis said. "But Beech was sort of that way too. It's been a long day...a long season."

Siegel led 3-0 entering the top of the fifth and 3-1 entering the top of the sixth, but Beech rallied for two in that frame and tallied the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth on a two-out RBI-single.

The Stars, after having thrown three pitchers in a 6-0 winners bracket loss to Farragut earlier in the day, used four more against Beech.

That depth was hard to find, with the team already down it's original No. 1 starter in sophomore Colton Baron and it's original No. 2 starter in senior Will Horn, both who suffered arm issues before the TSSAA baseball playoffs ever arrived.

Siegel baseball battled odds, found ways to win

Despite losing its top two pitchers, Siegel won games when it mattered. The Stars finished second in both the District 8-4A regular season and tournament before catching fire to win the Region 4-4A championship and sweeping Cleveland in a best-of-three sectional series.

"I'm very proud of these guys," Reavis said. "We had guys who stepped up. (Chalan) Patterson stepped up and had a great year on the mound. We just found ways to win games. Sometimes we hit. Sometimes we pitched well. We played solid defense all year. We just did a great job of finding ways to win games and getting as far as we could."

The team also battled through a shoulder injury to MTSU baseball signee Layne Akers, who was relegated to pinch hitting and being a designated hitter in the state tournament.

TOP PERFORMERS: Murfreesboro area TSSAA playoffs update, top performers: Eagleville baseball advances

Horn wasn't able to pitch late in the season, but came through at the plate, where he smacked four homers over the past week, including three in the state tournament.

"We just knew we had the next guys up, young guys who can play," said Horn, who hit three homers in the team's previous 43 games before the power surge. "We had seniors who led us well. We believed in ourselves. We made simple plays and just played ball. We put it together and found a way. I'm so proud of each and every one of them."

Siegel started four sophomores in the every-day lineup and had several underclassmen who contributed on the mound during the season.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: TSSAA baseball playoffs: Siegel season ends with loss to Beech