Dalton Heath
HENDERSONVILLE Pope John Paul II High senior pitcher Dalton Heath worked quickly through the second game of Friday evening’s doubleheader against visiting Montgomery Bell Academy.
Pope John Paul II High senior Ryan Hatten (left) is greeted by teammates after his first-inning home run during game one of Friday evening’s doubleheader. Hatten had two hits and drove in three runs.
It helped him carry a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the Knights’ 3-0 victory over the Big Red in the nightcap at ServPro Field.
There was a reason he worked quickly. He had to go to the bathroom, but he didn’t want to do it during the game.
“Not during that game,” Heath said. “I needed to go since the second inning.”
Heath’s no-hit bid was broken up with two outs by Jake Evans, who singled on a ground ball up the middle and into centerfield.
“It was my two-seam fastball, and it ran right over the middle of the plate,” Heath said. “He hit it where he was supposed to, and that was my mistake.”
The Big Red (1-9 overall, 0-5 in the Division II-Class AA East/Middle Region) eventually had the tying run at the plate before Heath pitched out of the jam to end the game with a two-hit shutout for the Knights (6-7, 4-1).
“I was just going up there and locating as best I could,” Heath said. “My changeup was a little off tonight, but my slider was on. That’s where it really fooled them I think.”
Pope John Paul II High sophomore Grayson Lang runs down the first-base line during game one of Friday evening’s doubleheader sweep of visiting Montgomery Bell Academy.
A balk allowed junior Ben Brooks to score in the first inning, while senior Ryan Hatten scored on junior Jack Shuttleworth’s bases-loaded walk in the third. Sophomore Jake Rucker’s sacrifice fly plated Hatten in the sixth.
Hatten helped lead the PJP II offense to an 11-5 victory in game one.
Hatten, a Virginia Military Institute signee, went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in the first inning and finished with three runs batted in as PJP II collected 10 hits.
“I think we had better approaches at the plate,” Hatten said. “We knew we weren’t going to see the hardest pitching out there, and we knew that we needed to sit back and drive the ball the other way. We did that, and we ended up scoring a lot of runs.”
MBA scored three runs in the top of the first inning against junior starting pitcher Mason Hickman, a Vanderbilt University commitment. Hickman pitched six innings, allowing five runs on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
Pope John Paul II High senior Garrett Taylor rounds third base as head coach Michael Brown gives directions during game one of Friday evening’s doubleheader.
Junior teammate Nate Pianto pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Reach Chris Brooks at cbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118. Follow him on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.
Pope John Paul II High 11-3, Montgomery Bell Academy 5-0
MBA 302 000 0 – 5 7 7
PJP II 230 240 x – 11 10 1
Will Hansen, Drew Davis (4) and Cole Cross; Mason Hickman, Nate Pianto (7) and Jack Shuttleworth. WP – Hickman. LP – Hansen. Home runs: PJP II – Ryan Hatten.
MBA 000 000 0 – 0 2 0
PJP II 101 001 x – 3 4 1
Wilson Flack, Will Hanson (6) and Sam Morris; Dalton Heath and Jack Shuttlworth. WP – Heath. LP – Flack. Records: MBA 1-9 overall, 0-5 in the Division II-Class AA East/Middle Region; PJP II 6-7, 4-1.