Hall pitches two-hit shutout, Tennessee High rolls past Virginia High
BRISTOL, Va. – There’s no fall when you lose a Hall when you have another Hall upon which to call.
That was the Dr. Seussian storyline for Tennessee High in its opening game in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Tournament.
Erstwhile 2017 THS senior ace Zach Hall can now be found on a collegiate mound, but younger sibling Davis Hall was at the center of the action Tuesday night as the junior tossed a two-hit shutout and the Tennessee High bats awakened late in thunderous style to give the Vikings a 15-0 victory in six innings over crosstown rival Virginia High.
“Little bro Hall, he’s 3-0 and done nothing but throw complete games,” said Tennessee High coach Preston Roberts. “He’s pitched efficiently, low pitch counts has allowed him to get deep in the games. He’s phenomenal. His ERA’s probably lower than his brother’s ever was and he throws several miles an hour slower.”
On the last Tuesday in March a season ago, Zach Hall shut out the Bearcats in a 7-0 victory, scattering seven hits and striking out nine.
Zach Griffith (a double in the first inning) and Jordan Dixon (a single in the fourth) were the only VHS players to manage hits off the Hall on the hill on this year’s final Tuesday in March, but big bro managed to maintain a modicum of bragging rights as Davis Hall struck out three fewer Bearcats, although he did record an exclamation-point punchout to finish the game.
“First couple innings I wasn’t sure, didn’t have the best stuff, but I trust my defense a lot and I know if I just let them hit it my defense would help me out,” said Hall, a regular in the THS lineup and an occasional pitcher as a sophomore last season.
“I’m sure [Zach] will send me a text or something and ask me how it went. Our whole life we’ve been competing against each other. It makes us both better and I like it.”
The result Tuesday was not only an unwelcome replay from the previous year for the Bearcats against THS, but a nightmare near-repeat of the previous night when Virginia High (0-2) opened the season Monday with an 11-1 loss against Abingdon that also got out of hand late.
“We played two of the best teams in this area without a doubt, but that’s no excuse for the way we played,” said Virginia High coach Mark Daniels. “I mean 24 walks in two games, and I thought this team was going to swing the bat a little better than we are, but it is early.”
Virginia High once again stayed competitive in the early going with starter Zach Griffith keeping the Vikings off balance, but Tennessee High managed to score three runs in the third inning thanks to a series of errors, walks, passed balls and wild pitches.
The Vikings then broke the game open in the fourth when seniors Jason Vanhoy and Tanner Booker recorded back-to-back two-RBI hits.
After going up 9-0 in the fifth, Tennessee High put the game into run-rule territory with a six-hit, six-run outburst in the top of the sixth.
“I’ve been really proud from an offensive standpoint just the discipline we’ve had at the plate,” Roberts said. “… Just because we’re not hitting balls off the wall we can still manufacture [runs]. I was really proud of the way we were able to get our walks when we had them, put the ball in play, move guys over – we ran the bases. That may be the underlying story of the game.”
Vanhoy finished with two hits and four RBIs to lead the THS offense and Banks Presson, Peyton Fox, Gavin Cross, Nick Dobbins and Hall also each had run-scoring hits along with Booker.
Ryan Gibson drove in a run with a groundout and Jacob Orr and Jarrett Powell each had hits as every player who had a turn at the plate for the Vikings either drove in a run or had a hit.
A season after advancing to regionals for the first time in 26 years, Tennessee High is off to a 9-1 start to the new campaign and has already scored well over 100 runs following their fourth consecutive victory over the Bearcats.
“It’s unbelievable,” Roberts said. “It seems like we’ll be ahead two or three to nothing halfway through the game and then all of the sudden, bang. That’s what’s so special is about these guys is they feed off each other and they feed off each other’s energy.”
Despite some significant graduation losses from the 2017 squad – including his big brother – Hall said the latest THS team is determined to keep the good times going.
“It helped a lot with the seniors last year and being able to do something special, but a lot of these kids, we just want to build on that and go further than what we did last year,” he said.
A youthful Virginia High bunch, meanwhile, will try to regroup this weekend in an FCA consolation game before starting play in the Southwest District next month.
“We’re exposed,” Daniels said. “We know where a lot of our weaknesses are and we’ve got to go to work on them or it’s going to be a long season.”
The Vikings will get a chance to avenge one of their rare losses last year when they take on non-conference Northeast Tennessee rival Sullivan East today at 4:30 p.m. in another FCA tourney game moved up from its original Thursday timeslot.
“I do think the confidence has carried over from last year, especially how hot we got towards the end of the year, and a lot of these guys are returners,” Roberts said.
“They’re a fun group; I knew they would be.”
BRISTOL, Va. – There’s no fall when you lose a Hall when you have another Hall upon which to call.
That was the Dr. Seussian storyline for Tennessee High in its opening game in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Tournament.
Erstwhile 2017 THS senior ace Zach Hall can now be found on a collegiate mound, but younger sibling Davis Hall was at the center of the action Tuesday night as the junior tossed a two-hit shutout and the Tennessee High bats awakened late in thunderous style to give the Vikings a 15-0 victory in six innings over crosstown rival Virginia High.
“Little bro Hall, he’s 3-0 and done nothing but throw complete games,” said Tennessee High coach Preston Roberts. “He’s pitched efficiently, low pitch counts has allowed him to get deep in the games. He’s phenomenal. His ERA’s probably lower than his brother’s ever was and he throws several miles an hour slower.”
On the last Tuesday in March a season ago, Zach Hall shut out the Bearcats in a 7-0 victory, scattering seven hits and striking out nine.
Zach Griffith (a double in the first inning) and Jordan Dixon (a single in the fourth) were the only VHS players to manage hits off the Hall on the hill on this year’s final Tuesday in March, but big bro managed to maintain a modicum of bragging rights as Davis Hall struck out three fewer Bearcats, although he did record an exclamation-point punchout to finish the game.
“First couple innings I wasn’t sure, didn’t have the best stuff, but I trust my defense a lot and I know if I just let them hit it my defense would help me out,” said Hall, a regular in the THS lineup and an occasional pitcher as a sophomore last season.
“I’m sure [Zach] will send me a text or something and ask me how it went. Our whole life we’ve been competing against each other. It makes us both better and I like it.”
The result Tuesday was not only an unwelcome replay from the previous year for the Bearcats against THS, but a nightmare near-repeat of the previous night when Virginia High (0-2) opened the season Monday with an 11-1 loss against Abingdon that also got out of hand late.
“We played two of the best teams in this area without a doubt, but that’s no excuse for the way we played,” said Virginia High coach Mark Daniels. “I mean 24 walks in two games, and I thought this team was going to swing the bat a little better than we are, but it is early.”
Virginia High once again stayed competitive in the early going with starter Zach Griffith keeping the Vikings off balance, but Tennessee High managed to score three runs in the third inning thanks to a series of errors, walks, passed balls and wild pitches.
The Vikings then broke the game open in the fourth when seniors Jason Vanhoy and Tanner Booker recorded back-to-back two-RBI hits.
After going up 9-0 in the fifth, Tennessee High put the game into run-rule territory with a six-hit, six-run outburst in the top of the sixth.
“I’ve been really proud from an offensive standpoint just the discipline we’ve had at the plate,” Roberts said. “… Just because we’re not hitting balls off the wall we can still manufacture [runs]. I was really proud of the way we were able to get our walks when we had them, put the ball in play, move guys over – we ran the bases. That may be the underlying story of the game.”
Vanhoy finished with two hits and four RBIs to lead the THS offense and Banks Presson, Peyton Fox, Gavin Cross, Nick Dobbins and Hall also each had run-scoring hits along with Booker.
Ryan Gibson drove in a run with a groundout and Jacob Orr and Jarrett Powell each had hits as every player who had a turn at the plate for the Vikings either drove in a run or had a hit.
A season after advancing to regionals for the first time in 26 years, Tennessee High is off to a 9-1 start to the new campaign and has already scored well over 100 runs following their fourth consecutive victory over the Bearcats.
“It’s unbelievable,” Roberts said. “It seems like we’ll be ahead two or three to nothing halfway through the game and then all of the sudden, bang. That’s what’s so special is about these guys is they feed off each other and they feed off each other’s energy.”
Despite some significant graduation losses from the 2017 squad – including his big brother – Hall said the latest THS team is determined to keep the good times going.
“It helped a lot with the seniors last year and being able to do something special, but a lot of these kids, we just want to build on that and go further than what we did last year,” he said.
A youthful Virginia High bunch, meanwhile, will try to regroup this weekend in an FCA consolation game before starting play in the Southwest District next month.
“We’re exposed,” Daniels said. “We know where a lot of our weaknesses are and we’ve got to go to work on them or it’s going to be a long season.”
The Vikings will get a chance to avenge one of their rare losses last year when they take on non-conference Northeast Tennessee rival Sullivan East today at 4:30 p.m. in another FCA tourney game moved up from its original Thursday timeslot.
“I do think the confidence has carried over from last year, especially how hot we got towards the end of the year, and a lot of these guys are returners,” Roberts said.
“They’re a fun group; I knew they would be.”
