Dresden Enterprise - Covering Weakley County Like the Dew from Heaven for 118 Years

After splitting a home-and-home series about a month ago, the Dresden Lions and Union City Tornadoes met on Monday with the fate of their respective seasons on the line. In a game which had two distinct halves, the Lions all their runs in the top of the fourth and sixth innings before having to hold off a late surge by the Tornadoes to take a 15-9 win over Union City at the District 14-A Tournament at South Fulton.

Neither team was able to put any runs on the board in the early going. However, both teams threatened to do just that in the first inning. A pair of walks – a four-ball pass to Randy Williams and the first of three intentional walks to Colton Hickerson – gave the Lions a pair of baserunners in the top of the first. But, Union City was able get the final out to end the threat.

Likewise in the bottom of the inning, a one-out double from Camron Sherwood was followed by a groundout to third and a strikeout to end the threat.

After getting a pair of runners on in the second inning and even loading the bases in the third, the Lion offense finally broke through in a big way as Dresden got a big fourth inning. Five straight singles were capped off by a pair of two-RBI base knocks from Adam Turbeville and Randy Williams. After a sacrifice fly advanced Williams to third and another intentional walk to Hickerson put two runners on, the Tornadoes seemed ready to escape the inning with only minimal damage as Justin Hatler struck out. But, the catcher mishandled the ball then overthrew the first baseman allowing Williams and Hickerson to score, making the lead 6-0 in favor of the Lions. Matt Clements then reached on an error to plate a run then scored on a Drew Vernon double to put the Lions ahead 8-0.

Union City was able to get back two of those runs in the bottom half of the inning as an error on an attempted double-play allowed two runs to score to cut the Dresden lead to 8-6 after four innings.

After the Tornadoes added another run in the bottom of the fifth, the Dresden offense went on another tear. A third intentional walk to Hickerson would later result in him scoring when Hatler reached on an error. Two more errors allowed the Lions to push their lead to 10-3. After an RBI single by Williams, the bases were loaded and the Tornadoes were forced to pitch to Hickerson, who made them pay with a two-run single to help give the Lions a 15-3 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning.

(Read the rest of this story in this week's edition of the Dresden Enterprise!)

Dresden Lion 7-1 win ends GHS Bulldog season

By Jason Peevyhouse

Sports Editor

For the second time in as many games, the Gleason Bulldogs faced elimination at the hands of a fellow Weakley County team. This time, though, the Bulldogs would see their season end as the Dresden Lions took an early lead and built on that in the later innings to take a 7-1 win over the Bulldogs in the consolation bracket of the District 14-A Tournament at South Fulton.

The Lions struck first, getting on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Colton Hickerson was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning and advanced to second base on a passed ball. A one-out single by Justin Hatler plated Hickerson and broke the scoreless tie. Matt Clements followed with an RBI single to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Lions.

Gleason was able to answer back in the top of the third inning as a one-out Cody Ezell double led to an RBI single from Matt James to cut the Dresden lead to 2-1.

But, Dresden was able to expand that lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Clements reached on a two-out error. That mishap would prove costly as Drew Vernon came up next and cleared the bases with a two-run shot to center to make the score 4-1.

(Read the rest of this story in the May 9th edition of the Dresden Enterprise!)

Gleason wins back-and-forth battle with Yellowjackets to advance in district bracket

By Jason Peevyhouse

Sports Editor

Coming off a hardfought home-and-home series recently, the Gleason Bulldogs and Greenfield Yellowjackets had one more battle to fight – this one for the right to move on in the District 14-A Consolation Bracket. Despite Gleason taking an early lead, Greenfield fought back to take the advantage in the fourth inning only to see the Bulldogs return the favor in the sixth before ending the Greenfield rally in the seventh inning to seal the win.

Gleason took advantage of an early miscue that allowed leadoff batter Matt James to reach base. After a stolen base and an error, James found himself on third base, but only briefly as he scored on a passed ball to make the score 1-0 in the Bulldogs favor.

The Bulldogs got on the board again in the top of the second inning as starting pitcher Colin Bennett gave himself some run support as he got an RBI single to push the Gleason lead to 2-0.

Greenfield’s initial run came in similar fashion to the Bulldogs’ as Channing Edwards reached on an error then scored later in the bottom of the second inning on a passed ball to cut the Gleason lead to 2-1.

The Yellowjackets took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the fourth inning as Daniel Ricketts scored on a catcher’s error to tie the game. Cody Ricketts followed with an RBI single to give Greenfield a 3-2 lead after four innings.

But, Gleason took their turn to rally in the top of the sixth inning. Ethan Lowrance was hit by a pitch to open the inning. A Chase Griffin double plated Lowrance to tie the game at 3-3. After Griffin moved to third on a Zach Wallace single, a balk was called, sending Griffin home and giving the lead back to the Bulldogs at 4-3.

(Read the rest of this story in this week's edition of the Dresden Enterprise!)