The Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders will square off against the Chuckey-Doak Black Knights at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Having struggled with six losses in a row, Gatlinburg-Pittman turned things around against Eagleton College & Career Academy on Tuesday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past the Royals 4-3.
Easton Gaff spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on five hits and racked up 11 Ks. Furthermore, he didn't allow a single walk, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in April of 2024.
On the hitting side, Gatlinburg-Pittman saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Tristan Davis, who went 2-for-4 with one RBI. That's the most hits Davis has posted since back in April of 2024. Aaron Johnson also deserves some recognition as he got his first hits of the season.
Meanwhile, Chuckey-Doak gave up the first runs on Tuesday, but they didn't let that get them down. They put the hurt on Johnson County with a sharp 14-2 victory. The result was nothing new for the Black Knights, who have now won four matches by eight runs or more so far this season.
Cooper Seay was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-5. Chuckey-Doak is undefeated when Seay posts two or more runs, but 4-5 otherwise.
Chuckey-Doak always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Johnson County only posted an OBP of .323.
Chuckey-Doak is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-5 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. Gatlinburg-Pittman's victory was their first in the district, bumping their district record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 5-8.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Gatlinburg-Pittman has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 5.1 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Chuckey-Doak struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 4.9 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Gatlinburg-Pittman couldn't quite get it done against Chuckey-Doak in their previous meeting on March 3rd as they fell 8-3. Will Gatlinburg-Pittman have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
