ForumsKNOXVILLE – Less than four months after capping a record-breaking high school career during which he garnered national notoriety for his home run habits, Knoxville native Ethan Bennett used a two-run bomb to power his Orange team to a 4-1 win in game two of the Tennessee baseball team’s Orange and White World Series Friday.
Fellow freshman and local product Nick Williams—who was a teammate of Bennett’s at Farragut High School—pitched a scoreless ninth inning en route to earning a save.
To appropriately top off the Knoxville-themed affair, former Bearden High School standout Hunter Daniel was credited with the victory, as the sophomore left-hander worked a perfect eighth inning.
“The local guys were great,” UT head coach Todd Raleigh said. “Ethan Bennett hitting the big two-run homer was huge, and Nick Williams was phenomenal tonight in just his second time on the mound for us.
“I thought overall we played much, much better than we did a week ago (in game one). We played well defensively and pitched unbelievable.”
Game one of the Orange and White World Series ended in a 6-6 tie last week, so Friday’s strong performance from the former local prep stars gave assistant coach Ash Lawson’s Orange team the series lead heading into next Friday’s game three (5 p.m. ET, free admission).
A quartet of White team pitchers combined to hold the Orange team scoreless through 7.1 innings, but Bennett’s eighth-inning smash into the left-field bleachers quickly turned a one-run deficit into a 2-1 lead for the Orange squad.
Later in the bottom of the eighth, Khayyan Norfork and Chris Fritts each logged RBI singles to stretch the Orange lead to 4-1. Norfork drew a pair of walks on the night and also stole third base prior to Bennett’s homer.
“I thought Khayyan was a big difference-maker with his speed,” Raleigh said. “He really did a great job putting pressure on them on the basepaths.”
The White team used a Chris Pierce single, an infield error and a walk to load the bases with two outs against Orange reliever T.J. Thornton in the top of the sixth. Freshman Blake Berger then drew an RBI walk to plate Pierce and open the game’s scoring.
Freshman right-hander Carter Watson was immediately summoned to the mound, and he quickly induced an inning-ending grounder to cap the damage at one run. A native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., Watson twirled a flawless 1.1 innings.
Sophomore Drew Steckenrider started on the mound for the Orange team, working three scoreless innings. The right-hander scattered a pair of hits with one walk and one strikeout before giving way to Thornton.
After White starter Jerod Peper tossed 2.2 shutout frames, Rob Catapano, Steven Gruver, Nick Blount D.J. Leffler, Kevin Greene and Zach Godley all saw action out of the White bullpen. Leffler absorbed all four runs while taking the loss. Meanwhile, Orange batters failed to manage a single hit off Catapano or Gruver.
“Our pitching was really good,” Raleigh said. “Peper was ridiculous. Both starters were impressive. Thornton and Gruver looked really good. We threw some arms out there tonight.”
The Orange team out-hit the White squad 8-4. Pierce produced a pair of hits on the night to pace the White offense, while Matt Ramsey—playing on his birthday—also led his team with two hits.
Ramsey—yet another Farragut product—put on an impressive defensive exhibition behind the plate in the top of the second inning. The junior threw out consecutive runners attempting to take second base. Pierce and Charley Thurber had reached on a single and a walk, respectively, before falling victim to perfect throws from Ramsey.
“We put Ramsey behind the plate today,” Raleigh said. “The guy is so versatile it’s ridiculous. He can play pretty much anywhere on the field. He threw those two guys out early and it seemed to shut them down for the rest of the game. Neither of those two throws was easy to make.”
Ramsey wasn’t the only Vol showcasing his defensive prowess Friday.
“Defensively we played well,” Raleigh said. “Zach (Osborne) made a couple good plays. (Matt) Duffy made about three good plays. (Andrew) Toles threw a guy out at the plate flat-footed from centerfield. Josh Liles played all over the field and did really well, too.
“Like I said, compared to where we were last week, it was much better. So I’m very pleased with that.”
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