thedailytimes.com : Your 24/7 news source

FARRAGUT -- The Maryville baseball team's first loss of the postseason didn't exactly come as a surprise, or as much of a disappointment.

Senior Derek Headrick smiled and looked ahead to a potential rematch with perennial powerhouse Farragut. Rebels coach Jim Gaylor unveiled a contingency plan that revolved around preventing starting pitcher Jonny Weigand from throwing too much.

Playing one of the state's top teams for the third time in 19 days, Maryville didn't fare much better against the top-seeded Admirals in a 7-2 loss in the winners' bracket semifinals of the District 4-AAA Tournament on Saturday night at John Heatherly Field.

The Rebels (20-13), who lost for only the third time in their last 11 games, seemed content simply to remain alive after their first loss in the double-elimination tournament and their third loss to Farragut in as many weeks.

"It's always frustrating to lose. But I think any time you play a good team, it makes you better," said Headrick, who hit a solo home run to left field in the top of the seventh to give Maryville its first run since the second inning.

"I think there's a little fire underneath us now. We want to see (Farragut) again because we believe we can play with these guys. They're a good team, and we're a good team."

Fourth-seeded Maryville will face No. 7 seed South Doyle, a 5-4 upset winner over sixth-seeded Heritage on Saturday, in an elimination game Monday at 3 p.m. at Farragut, the site of all of the tournament's remaining games.

Farragut (34-2), meanwhile, moves on to play second-seeded Bearden in the winners' bracket finals, with the winner advancing to Wednesday's championship and clinching a spot in the Region 2-AAA Tournament.

The Admirals have won four consecutive games since losing to William Blount and Pigeon Forge in a four-game span in late April.

"That kind of drove us as a team," said Farragut freshman pitcher Philip Pfiefer (11-0), who started and allowed only an unearned run in four effective innings. "I don't think we want to lose again. But it took a lot of pressure off of us, not being undefeated."

The pressure now is on Maryville.

The Rebels will have to win three consecutive games to reach Wednesday's championship game and advance to the region tournament.

First, they might need to learn from a few mistakes they made against Farragut.

The Admirals went ahead for good with a three-run second inning that featured a pair of fielding miscues by the Rebels. Nicky Delmonico capitalized on a botched, two-out pickoff attempt by Weigand with an RBI double, and Cade Stallings followed with a bloop RBI double down the right-field line that capitalized on a shifted outfield.

Weigand (4-4), who allowed four earned runs, was pulled after two innings. Ryan Dalton, Kaleb Moore, Caleb West and Drew Tinker each followed with an inning of relief.

"If (Weigand) goes out and we lose 5-1, and he pitches seven innings, we don't get him back until Tuesday or Wednesday at the very earliest," Gaylor said.

"We had a number (of runs) we were thinking about for him, and then after that we weren't going to pitch him. We just felt like, against them with our (other) pitchers, it was probably better for us to mix it up and not let them get used to any one thing."

Maryville designated hitter Dylan Beets briefly tied the game at 1 with an RBI single to right in the top of the second before the Admirals pulled away with six runs over the next three innings.

Headrick's one-out homer in the seventh was one of only five hits by the Rebels.

"If (Headrick) hits that one with two or three men on base, it's a different game," Gaylor said. "We need that kind of hit when there's runners on base.

"We had a few opportunities early in the game and didn't get that kind of hit when we needed it. But you have to give the credit to (Farragut's) pitchers."