Lincoln Ruth stood in the batter’s box in the bottom of the sixth inning with the infield pulled in, the game tied, the region championship hanging in the balance and two Gibbs runners waiting for someone to deliver the swing that could bring next week’s sectional series back home.
Ruth knew the situation.
He also knew what Anderson County was daring him to do.
“I get up there and I know everybody’s counting on me to get a hit,” Ruth said. “They were playing the infield in, and I knew I had to hit the ball hard no matter where it was to give them a chance to score.”
He did exactly that.
Ruth ripped a single to right field in the sixth inning, scoring Gavin Bergeron and Will Price, and Gibbs beat Anderson County 6-4 early Saturday afternoon to win the Region 2-3A championship and secure a home best-of-three sectional series next weekend against Tennessee High. Anderson County defeated Seymour in the tournament night cap to get into a sectional series Wednesday at defending state champion Greeneville.
The winner of those series will advance to the state tournament.
“It was big,” said Ruth, who had a walk-off hit to get Gibbs a win in last week’s District 4-3A Tournament opener.
“I was ready. I’ve been ready all week for this game, wanting to win. We knew we were throwing Will, and we had all our faith in him. It was very big, just to have the opportunity to come out here.”
For Gibbs, the win carried more than one trophy’s worth of weight. It came against Anderson County for the sixth time this season. Gibbs had won three of the first five meetings, including the district championship game at Anderson County that gave the Eagles the right to host the region tournament.
The sixth meeting followed the same narrow-margin script.
“All these guys here in the tournament, we are really evenly matched,” Gibbs coach Geff Davis said, “and the bottom line is who makes the fewest mistakes.”
Gibbs made enough plays early, absorbed Anderson County’s biggest swing, wasted one major scoring chance, then answered immediately after the Mavericks tied the game.
Bergeron gave Gibbs a quick jolt in the first inning, leading off the bottom half with a home run to left for a 1-0 lead. The Eagles added three more in the second. Lincoln Barton singled, Tripp Crawford walked and Bergeron was intentionally walked to load the bases. Price followed with a two-run single to right, and Ruth added another run-scoring single on a misplayed popup to push Gibbs ahead 4-0.
Anderson County did not record a hit until the third, but it did not need long to get back in the game. Nolan Benson singled, Blake Lowe walked and Jeremiah Owens launched a three-run homer to right-center to cut Gibbs’ lead to 4-3.
Price settled back in after that. He struck out the side around a walk in the second, worked through the middle innings and kept Gibbs in front until Anderson County mounted another threat in the sixth.
Clay Fletcher opened with a single. After a forceout, Reese Young and Titus Fedders walked to load the bases. Jackson Harris grounded to first, scoring pitcher Will Ridenour to tie the game 4-4. Benson was intentionally walked, loading the bases again, before Price escaped by getting Daniel Unthank to ground to second.
“I was a little surprised (Davis) gave me the option to stay in,” Price said. “I saw it was lefty-lefty, and (Unthank) really hadn’t hit me well, so I was thinking this was a good chance to switch not just yet, and we went ahead and made the third out.”
That escape became even bigger because Gibbs had just missed a chance to break the game open in the fifth. The Eagles loaded the bases with nobody out on singles by Tucker Ownby and Zaydin Ivey and a fielder’s choice by Owen Porter. But Barton grounded into a force at the plate, Abe Taylor grounded into another force at home, and Porter was thrown out trying to score on a wild pitch.
Instead of letting that empty inning linger, Gibbs responded in the sixth.
Bergeron singled. Price doubled to left-center.
“I was trying to damage and just get on,” Price said. “Tie ballgame, runner on first, and was just trying to get him over. It just happened I got a good barrel on it and found the gap.”
Ruth followed with the go-ahead single, turning a 4-4 tie into a 6-4 Gibbs lead.
Barton handled the rest. He moved from designated hitter to the mound in the seventh and retired Lowe on a fly ball to left, Owens on a popup to short and Fletcher on a strikeout to finish it.
“I love coming in in those situations,” Barton said. “I love it. The pressure’s all on you, and just the feeling to get out there and crush their hearts. Nothing beats it.”
Gibbs finished with 11 hits. Price earned the win, Barton picked up the save, and Lee Goins took the loss in relief for Anderson County. The Mavericks finished with three hits.
“This is honestly huge,” Price said. “Last year, we got put out early, and we knew we were a lot better than how we played. Getting to region, winning region, it’s all just huge for us. It means a lot for us to keep playing baseball.”
And it means the next step goes through Gibbs. The Eagles last reached state in 2024 and won a state title in 2021. In both those years, they hosted the sectional round (it was a one-game playoff in 2021).
“Home-field advantage, I think we play so much better at home,” Price said. “We turn into a whole different baseball team, in my opinion. We’re at home, we know the field, we know how it plays.
Article written by Dean Fox/5Star Preps. To read more on area high school sports or to see photo galleries, videos, stat leaders, etc., visit 5StarPreps.com — and use promo code HAMMERS for 30% off your first year or month subscription.
Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook and Instagram. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our Free Newsletter.
