Playing its first Tennessee competition this year, the Gordon Lee baseball team got out of the gate early and never slowed Thursday.
Hosting part of Lookout Valley's Yellow Jacket Classic, the Trojans scored three runs in the first inning and won 7-3 over Signal Mountain.
Adam Vandiver played the leadoff role to the hilt, seeing 10 pitches before stroking a double to left field. He proceeded to steal third and then came around to score, followed closely by Klay Durham, who had walked, on a two-run single from Tanner Sexton. Cleanup hitter Brandon Phillips then plated the third run with a single to left field.
"What an at-bat - a bunch of pitches and then a double," Trojans coach Adam Crowley said. "We jumped out early and scored every inning, and our pitcher worked ahead in the count and threw strikes."
Gordon Lee added two runs in the second on Vandiver's second double, following a Wayne Morrow single, a sacrifice bunt by Landon O'Neal and Daniel Brooks' walk.
Signal Mountain scored twice in the third on singles from Will Queen and B.J. Wilkerson, but the Trojans countered with another in the third when Connor Coakley doubled and came around to score on an error.
Ben Philyaw's leadoff double in the top of the fifth led to Signal's third run when he scored on a bad throw to first on Grant Hensley's grounder.
The game was called because of the tournament's two-hour time limit.
"It was a pretty ugly game," Eagles coach Bumper Reese said. "They had hits and we just didn't put enough balls in play. We're missing hitter's pitches, or we're not pulling the trigger at all."
The Eagles managed just four hits off Brooks.
Reese wasn't about to take anything away from Brooks or the Trojans, but his primary interest is a team that has no seniors and just three juniors.
"What's tough is these guys are having to grow during games," he said. "It's just going to take time because there is so much to learn. I think the kids know we aren't there. We're playing to be there by district tournament time."
No Signal Mountain hitter had more than one hit, and only one of those was for extra bases.
Gordon Lee's Vandiver went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two driven in. The only other player with a multihit game was Sexton, the Trojans' No. 3 hitter. He singled twice, scored once and drove home three runs.
"He has been the one who has been seeing the ball well and driving in some runs," Crowley said.
The tournament continues today at Lookout Valley with the championship game scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Saturday.