Knowing how dangerous the Meigs County bats are, Signal Mountain senior right-hander Drew Lowry exhaled on his way back to the dugout after pitching around two baserunners in the first inning Monday. He was able to breathe even easier after the Eagles put up three runs in the home half of the first.
Signal Mountain added to its lead with two runs in the second and Lowry went the distance, scattering seven hits in a 7-2 Region 3-AA semifinal win. The Eagles (25-9) will play at Loudon, which beat Hixson 3-1, for the region championship Wednesday. Both those teams will advance to Friday’s sectional round, with the winner hosting and the loser traveling.
“I noticed they were swinging at the first pitch pretty much every batter in the first, so I knew they wanted to be aggressive at the plate,” Lowry said. “I felt pretty good about getting out of that first inning, and then it’s crazy how much easier it is to pitch when you have big lead.
“I was able to just settle in and trust the guys behind me to make plays for us. Getting those early runs was a huge confidence boost.”
With two outs in the bottom of the first, Collins Poole drilled a two-run triple to the base of the center-field wall, and another run scored later on a Tigers fielding error.
Similar to their first-inning scoring, the Eagles’ two runs in the second – coming on a Mark Jones double – were also plated with two outs.
“We’ve swung the bats pretty good all season, but right now it seems like we’re really getting those clutch hits with guys on base,” Eagles coach Josh Gandy said. “Getting those runs in the first definitely took some of the pressure off and let the guys just go out and play.”
Lowry struck out nine, including the final two batters he faced for the complete-game win, walking just one and was also 2-for-3 with an RBI. The Eagles totaled 13 hits with Scott Payne going 3-for-4 and Daulton Cunningham 2-for-3 with a run scored.
“We’ve just got to keep hitting the ball the way we have been, because things have really been coming together for us at the right time,” Lowry added.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.