Golden Bears win 9-AAA opener 1-0 behind Boston

MT. JULIET — Watching District 9-AAA baseball is a lot like watching World Cup soccer. A lot of 1-0 and 2-1 ballgames.
Vanderbilt-signee Taylor Hill didn't start Monday's district opener on the Mt. Juliet mound, but he closed out a 1-0 win over B.J. Boston over LaVergne.
Boston scattered two hits and two walks while striking out six in six innings as the senior right-hander evened his record at 2-2. Hill came on in the seventh, allowing a hit and striking out one to get the save as Mt. Juliet moved to 11-6 for the season.
"He's thrown well all year long," Mt. Juliet coach Mark Purvis said of Boston. "He's got a good arm, throws hard, throws mid- to high-80s. He has a good curveball as well."
Boston lost to state powerhouse Farragut in a 5-0 final in which he gave up only two earned runs and fell to Goodpasture 2-1 last Thursday despite allowing only two hits.
Mt. Juliet scored in the fourth when Tyler Carr singled with one out, stole second and came home on Caleb Knox's double down the left-field line.
The Bears will go to Smyrna on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game which should be a pro scout's delight as Hill is scheduled to go against junior right-hander Sonny Gray.
"Everybody has good pitching in our district," Purvis said. "It's tough to score."

Saints forfeit to Friendship after outscoring Red Boiling Springs
Friendship Christian picked up a forfeit win over Mt. Juliet Christian on Monday when the Saints didn't have enough players, Commander coach John McNeal said.
The forfeit brought Friendship's record to 6-7 going into Thursday's 4 p.m. game at Watertown's Three Forks Park. The Saints slipped to 4-4.
Mt. Juliet Christian was coming off a game in which the Saints climbed out of a touchdown deficit to outscore visiting Red Boiling Springs 12-9 Saturday.
The Bulldogs led 7-0 in the second inning before the Saints did all their scoring in the third through the sixth innings.
Daniel Shedd pitched the first five innings in his first start on his 18th birthday to get the win. Codye Sullivan tossed the final two frames for the save. The pair combined to allow 10 hits.
Jonathan Roberts drove in three runs on a triple, double and single as he, Sullivan and Chris Frazier each had three of Mt. Juliet Christian's 12 hits. Sullivan and Frazier both doubled and drove in two runs. Rahul Vanmali knocked in a run on two hits. Phillip Harnage hit a two-run single while Shedd also knocked in a run.

Watertown goes down 5-4 in eight innings to Gordonsville
SOUTH CARTHAGE — Gordonsville scored a 5-4 eight-inning win over Watertown on Monday at Crump Paris Park.
Josh Bennett opened the Gordonsville eighth with a fly ball which fell for a single when a Watertown outfielder fell. A single and an error loaded the bases for Matthew Thornton's walk-off sacrifice fly as the Purple Tigers fell to 2-7 for the season and 0-4 in District 8-A.
Taylor Rowland was the tough-luck loser by pitching all 7 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and a walk while striking out four.
Caleb Hughes forced extra inning when he hit a three-run double to right in the top of the seventh for Watertown.
Justin Martin put Watertown on the board in the fifth on a squeeze bunt after Gordonsville had taken a 2-0 lead. The hosts went up 4-1 with two in the sixth.
Rowland racked up two hits and Adam Martin one.
Watertown will host Friendship Christian at 4 p.m. Thursday at Three Forks Park.