Places, Everyone!

No. 1-ranked Tornadoes roar into state tournament

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

Steve Dunn never gave a second thought to anyone other than Myles Cox pitching the seventh.

Cox couldn’t have been happier with his coach’s decision.

“He said, ‘I know you feel good. You got one more. Go send us to Murfreesboro,'” Cox said. “‘I said, ‘Yes, sir. I got you guys.'”

Finishing what he started, the Alcoa right-hander closed out a complete-game win over McMinn Central with a blistering final frame, the eventual 6-3 sectional triumph lifting the Tornadoes back into the TSSAA Class 2A state tournament for the second consecutive year.

“We use the word dawg a lot,” Dunn said. “He’s just a dawg. Mentally, he’s so strong. From a pitching vantage point, nothing really fazes him. He’s harder on himself than we are on him. He knows exactly what he needs to do, and he just does it.”

No. 1-ranked Alcoa (32-4) opens against Lakeland Prep (26-3) at Stewarts Creek High School on Wednesday at 6:30 CST.

It’s a focused bunch that goes in pursuit of the school’s first state baseball championship this week, Dunn said.

“We started working (on returning to state) on August 12th,” he said. “We had one goal, all year long. We knew coming in we could be a good team. This is the hardest working group of guys, collectively, I’ve ever had.

“They just push each other.”

Cox was nothing short of brilliant in the weather-interrupted, sectional decider. Retiring 11 Chargers by strikeout, the Tornado leader limited McMinn to three hits, all coming after the contest was halted for more than an hour due to lighting in the area.

“I always have confidence in my starts,” Cox said. “That was a really good team we played, but I said, ‘You know what, I think my stuff’s better and I think I can take all seven innings'”.

At the plate, centerfielder Eli Graf and shortstop Aiden Orrick both finished 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored on a night that saw nine Tornadoes register a hit. Cox helped his cause with a two-RBI single after the delay.

Left-fielder Kyler Clark delivered the night’s defensive gem, the senior’s late-game running, diving grab ending the Chargers last best hopes of a rally.

“With the Pigeon Forge game in the regional, we were battle tested,” Graf said. “First game (Friday), we were down, 5-0, and we came back. It’s just a testament to these guys, how much they want to win this thing and how together we are as a team.”