Sale Creek’s baseball team continues to offer proof that it is a legitimate state title contender in TSSAA Class A. The Panthers, pulling from a high school student body of just more than 300, are showing they can compete with the big dogs, too.
They’ve been on a tear this season, and it continued with Thursday’s 9-1 victory over Class AAA’s Soddy-Daisy.
The Trojans headed to Sale Creek riding a nine-game winning streak and 15-3 overall, with a lineup led by sophomore Anthony Florio (.500 batting average) and senior Noah Ferguson (28 RBIs) for Jim Higgins’ team. However, Sale Creek (11-2-1) put together a complete performance in the field, on the mound and at the plate to take down their foes from just up US Highway 27.
“This win puts a big freaking target on our back,” Panthers coach Jimmy Pierce said. “That is a really good Soddy-Daisy team. So for us to be fortunate enough to beat those guys is a great accomplishment. We have a great group of kids. They play really hard and get along great. We had a lot of timely hitting tonight and we made the routine plays, which I preach and preach to our guys. I couldn’t be prouder of them to beat a big school like that.”
Sale Creek’s ace duo of seniors Camden Penny and Jakob Elrod received all the run support needed in the second inning.