12th-ranked Senators win TCCAA regular season title with sweep of Dyersburg State

MORRISTOWN, TN – No. 12 Walters State closed the regular season out with a bang on Saturday afternoon against Dyersburg State, sweeping a doubleheader to claim the TCCAA regular season title. The Senators won 12-2 in game one and 12-0 in game two.

With the sweep, Walters State finished the regular season at 44-12 overall and 22-5 in TCCAA play. 

Before the doubleheader, Walters State honored their 13 sophomores. Those sophomores were Ryan Bender, Karson Bonaparte, Taz Butler, Luke Ferguson, Andrew Grande, Jarrett Martin, Deniel Ortiz, Keaton Ray, Kurtis Reid, Miles Smith, Jonny Stevens, Logen Sutton and Zion Taylor. 

GAME ONE: No. 12 Walters State 12, Dyersburg State 2 (6 Innings)

In game one, Zion Taylor went a perfect 4-4 at the plate while Manning West and Drew Horn kept Dyersburg at bay on the mound.

Taylor had a home run and drove in two runs in the game. Along with him, Nate Conner had three hits and two RBI while Keaton Ray and Walker Morgan both homered.

On the mound, West (8-0) threw 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out six. Horn got the final two outs, striking out one. 

The Senators got on the board first, scoring two runs in the second on an error and Morgan RBI single. Dyersburg cut the lead to one in the fourth, but Ray got the run right back in the bottom half of the inning with a solo homer that made it 3-1.

In the fifth, the Senators continued to extend their lead as Conner doubled home Kurtis Reid, Conner scored on a sacrifice fly and Logen Sutton singled home Ray to make it 6-1. The sacrifice fly was clever baserunning by Conner as both catcher and pitcher went to catch a pop up, leaving home unattended and Conner raced in safely. 

Dyersburg scored one final time in the top of the sixth, but Walters State ended the game in the bottom half of the inning with six runs. Those runs came on a Morgan solo shot, a Conner RBI single, a wild pitch that scored Conner, a Sutton RBI double and a Taylor two-run moonshot. 

GAME TWO: No. 12 Walters State 12, Dyersburg State 0 (5 Innings)

In game two, Walters State collected 13 hits on their way to the run-rule victory.

Ortiz had three doubles in the game to lead the way, while Sutton collected three more hits. Jarrett Martin and Brantley Bamberg each homered, as well.

On the mound, Taz Butler (8-0) pitched 3.2 innings and allowed just two hits. He struck out nine. Ryan Bender replaced Butler in the fourth and picked up two strikeouts, before Jonny Stevens got the final two outs of the game. He struck out one. 

The Senators scored in just two innings in the game, scoring five runs in the second and seven in the third. In the second, Reid got the scoring started with a sacrifice bunt that drove in Sutton. Following a Miles Smith sacrifice fly that scored Martin and made it 2-0, Taylor singled home Conner and Ortiz doubled home Taylor and Jack Vogele to make it 5-0.

In the third, Martin smacked a two-run homer, Vogele doubled in a run, Smith tripled home a run, Taylor grounded out to score a run and Bamberg smashed a two-run home run that made it 12-0.

Up Next:

Walters State will be back in action next at the TCCAA Tournament at Columbia State. The Senators will be the No. 1 seed, and the tournament will run from May 4th-9th. 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics