Tates Creek baseball hoping late-inning rally against Dunbar signals change of fortune

Tates Creek’s baseball season could not have gotten off to much worse of a start.

The Commodores began 0-7 with losses to six teams now ranked in the PrepBaseballReport.com top 25, including No. 1 Trinity and three more in the top 10.

A win against No. 12 Manual on March 29 broke the streak, but Tates Creek quickly dropped two more games for a horrendous 1-9 record a month into the season. That’s quite a departure for a team that finished the 2023 regular season ranked No. 9 in the state.

“It’s a battle every day. We haven’t really had anything break our way,” Tates Creek coach Jeff Chapuran said. “The bad bounces, whatever it may be, it’s a testament to their character that they continue to show up every day and work. They haven’t given up.”

The Commodores began 43rd District play with a two-game sweep of Lexington Christian last week amid a five-game win streak.

However, this week brought a 7-2 loss at district-rival Paul Laurence Dunbar on Tuesday. A series sweep by the Bulldogs would put Tates Creek at a significant disadvantage in the district standings since their remaining schedule includes two games against No. 6 Lexington Catholic, the defending district and 11th Region champions.

At home on Wednesday, the Commodores faced a 6-2 deficit against Dunbar in the fifth inning. Their prospects looked grim. But this time, the balls bounced their way.

Tates Creek scored two runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth to rally for a 7-6 victory that could prove to be a significant turning point in its season.

“Last year, that was our main thing. We were always fighting,” said Tates Creek senior center fielder Jamison Craig, who led off the fifth inning with triple to right field. “We never gave up until the end. We’ve struggled with that this year. But today, we brought it back.”

Craig scored on a groundout. Teammate Cash Doolin later walked, stole second and scored on a throwing error by Dunbar’s third baseman to cut Tates Creek’s deficit to 6-4 heading into the sixth inning.

Dunbar sophomore Carson Quenon pitched five innings with five strikeouts and gave up Tates Creek’s first four runs. He countered by driving in four runs himself on a pair of hits. But Dunbar’s bullpen could not hold the lead.

Tates Creek’s Thomas Seigler led off the sixth with a walk. Jose Ramos singled to put runners at first and third for freshman Jordan Huguely, who has played in only eight games this season and had just one official at-bat.

His second hit of the game Wednesday knocked in a run to cut Dunbar’s lead to 6-5.

“He’s been chomping at the bit for his opportunity and he got it,” Chapuran said. “And he made the most of it.”

From there, Dunbar proved its own worst enemy. With runners still on the corners and no one out, an errant pickoff throw to first base allowed the tying run to score. Moments later, another pickoff attempt at second base deflected off the second baseman’s glove into right field. That allowed pinch runner Luke Cooper to score all the way from second to give Tates Creek the lead.

“We’ve got to be able to capitalize when (opponents) give us the opportunity, and we finally did that today,” Chapuran said.

The win improved Tates Creek’s record to 7-11 and 3-1 in the 43rd District. Two games against Lexington Catholic are on tap next week. Over the final two weeks of the season, the Commodores also have two games against Lafayette to determine where they’ll finish in the district standings. A second- or third-place finish offers a potentially easier path to the region tournament.

Craig feels confident going forward.

“We’ve played a really tough schedule, but that schedule is made for moments like this. We’ve built on every single loss,” Craig said. “These eight district games, they are the ones that matter the most. … It’s a new season now. Like Coach said, we’re 1-0.”