SPORTS

BOWYER MELTS 190-RACE LOSING STREAK. 2B

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018
TIPPING POINTS
Wild March stabilizes
with Final Four set. 3B

MARCH MADNESS 3B | PREPS 4B | COMICS 8B

THE DAILY TIMES 1B

Vols look to offseason after postseason exit

BY TAYLOR WHITE
taylorw@thedailytimes.com
KNOXVILLE — A week is what
it takes, no more, no less.
For Tennessee coach Rick
Barnes, if an NCAA Tournament
loss doesn’t hurt for at least a
week, it’s time to hang it up. The
same can be said if a week goes
by and he’s not already excited
for next season.
That week has come and gone
since Clayton Custer’s shot
touched every part of the rim
and dropped as Loyola-Chicago
ended Tennessee’s season in the
second round of the NCAA Tour-
nament. Now it’s time to look for-
ward, and even look back.
“It was all new for them,” Barnes
said at a Monday afternoon press
conference. “How fun it is, but
then how quickly it can end.
That’s what you hope they took
from it. What they did this year,
when you step back, I’m not real
good at celebrating the wins along
the way because I’m always look-
ing down the road, at what’s next,
but this group did some special
things. They really did.”
The list of accomplishments
has been well noted — a share
of the SEC regular-season title,
a runner-up finish in the SEC
Tournament and a No. 3 seed in
the NCAA Tournament — but
what makes this team different
is the reaction to that success.
The NCAA mandates a seven-
day period in which the coaches
aren’t allowed to do anything with
the team after the season ends.
That hasn’t stopped the team
from getting in the gym over the DARYL SULLIVAN | THE DAILY TIMES
TENNESSEE’S ADMIRAL SCHOFIELD (RIGHT) shoots for three against Florida’s
SEE EXIT, 3B KeVaughn Allen on Feb. 21 at Thompson Boling Arena.

Lady Mountaineer
tosses one-hitter
to down Knox West
BY LAUREN MOORE
laurenm@thedailytimes.com
When Ashleigh Geary
overthrew first base, blow-
ing her perfect game in
the fourth inning Monday
night, she couldn’t believe
what had happened.
“Did I really do that? It
was like 10 feet away,” the
Heritage senior told The
Daily Times, laughing, “and
I just completely released
it too high.”
The Maryville College
softball commit allowed
her lone hit in the next
at-bat, but as Knox West’s
Bailey Ensley, who reached
on the error, rounded third
for home, Kaelee Franklin
charged the bloop single
over first base.
The right fielder gunned
it home and catcher Brec-
ca Williams snagged it just
in time to swipe Ensley
out, securing a 12-0, four-
inning run-rule for a Dis-
DISTRICT 4-AAA SOFTBALL
HERITAGE 12,
Knox West 0, 4 inns.
trict 4-AAA home victory.
Geary was on fire all
night, sitting down nine
straight batters over three
innings before the error and
hit in the fourth frame. The
senior had four strikeouts.
“Absolutely. If she knows
that’s the situation,” said
Heritage head coach Jeff
Sherman, of Geary over-
thinking her throw, “plus
that’s the easiest way in the
game. You see it all the time
in baseball. It’s the easiest
throw and they can’t make
it. They want to toss it over
instead of just firing it over
there. It happens.”
Besides that one mistake,
along with two runners
caught stealing in the first
inning, Heritage was nearly
SEE WEST, 4B

King’s tennis edges past

short-handed Heritage
BY KELLY FRANKLIN PREP TENNIS
sports@thedailytimes.com
BOYS
Bad weather stalled the THE KING’S ACADEMY 5,
SCOTT KELLER | THE DAILY TIMES opening of the Heritage Heritage 4
MARYVILLE’S TANNER SHIVER (20) drives a lead-off double to centerfield against Farragut Monday night at Coulter’s Grove. tennis season. With skies GIRLS

Admirals set sail

finally cleared, key absenc-
es at the top of the line-
up kept the Mountaineers
from claiming an opening-
day win.
With No. 1 players for
both the boys and girls
s q u a d s o ut , He r i t a ge
coach Paul Puckett had
THE KING’S ACADEMY 5,
Heritage 4
over Damian Sanchez.
Ethan Hathcock and Eli-
jah Hearon won for the
Mountaineers (0-1) on
courts No. 2 and 3, but TKA
picked up two big points

Maryville baseball sputters in Farragut loss to do last minute reshuf-

BY AUSTIN BORNHEIM
austinb@thedailytimes.com
M a r y v i l l e ba s e ba l l
coach Adam Sullivan
wasn’t surprised Monday
night’s game against dis-
trict rival Farragut ended
up the way it did.
Errors, walks and a lack
of timely hitting will get
you beat even against bad
teams, Sullivan said, and
against a perennial state
tournament contender its
a recipe for disaster.
That was the story for
the Rebels in their 5-1 Dis-
DISTRICT 4-AAA BASEBALL many freebies is what I
feel like.”
FARRAGUT 5, Maryville 1 A f irst-inning walk
issued by Maryville start-
trict 4-AAA loss to the er Will Orren led to an
Admirals at The Grove early run for Farragut, but
on Monday. the senior got out of a jam
“There were a cou- with three strikeouts. The
ple at-bats where if we second time through the
could have if we had come lineup, though, the Admi-
through there (change rals were able to string
the game),” Sullivan told together some hits.
The Daily Times, “but Back-to-back singles
we didn’t play very good and two-straight doubles
defense and we didn’t sandwiched around a fly
throw enough strikes. out led to a three-run third
That was the biggest inning for Farragut and
issue. We gave them too put the Rebels in a hole
they couldn’t escape.
“Early, the umpire wasn’t
giving him his normal
change-up and curveball
slot down there a little bit
lower and he kind of let
that get to him,” Sullivan
said of Orren. “He got
a little wild, and I don’t
think he was as command-
ing as he normally is.”
Maryville’s offense was
unable to pick up the
slack.
The Rebels (4-4, 1-1 Dis-
trict 4-AAA) loaded the
SEE SAIL, 4B
fling. Both squads fell just
short in 5-4 losses Mon-
day afternoon to The
King’s Academy.
On the boys side, TKA
(3-0) pulled out the win
with victories at No. 1 sin-
gles along with the bot-
tom three seeds, and one
narrow 8-5 win on one of
the three courts of dou-
bles, with Mateus Muniz
and Gavin Hall teaming to
prevail over the Heritage
duo of Cody Gorenflo and
Landon Davis.
The top court for sin-
gles was also taken by
the Lions, with Cameron
Knight escaping in a long
and hard-fought 8-5 win
with Gavin Hall and Joseph
Eubanks winning on courts
No. 5 and 6.
Heritage won two of the
three doubles matches.
Sanchez and Hearon
broke Eubanks and
Knight at 6-6, then San-
chez served out for the
win, with Hearon claim-
ing the last three points
on net putaways.
On doubles court No. 2,
Mountaineers Hathcock
and Wheeler traded breaks
with Matthew Mikels and
Grant Webb until the Her-
itage duo took the final
break on TKA double-
faults for an 8-5 win.
SEE TKA, 2B

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