Tennessee all-stars again top Georgia in baseball

photo Northwest Whitfield's Brady Middleton, left, handles a throw to second but Silverdale's Spencer Mossberg is safe on the steal in third-inning action of the Tennessee-Georgia all-star baseball game Wednesday, played at Ridgeland High School.

BASEBALLTennessee-Georgia all-star gameTENNESSEE 5, GEORGIA 4Tennessee // 004 // 001 // 000 // -- // 5 // 9 // 1Georgia // 011 // 000 // 110 // -- // 4 // 7 // 3WP: Dakota Hudson. LP: Nick Williams. Save: Colton Jumper. Highlights: Spencer Mossberg 2-3, 2 SBs; Josh Poole 2-3; Nick Auger, Tanner Buchanan, Chase Morrissey RBIs (T); Cole Ellis, Tanner Sexton, Trey Hill RBIs (Ga). Records: Tennessee leads series 10-1.

Before the game the Tennessee coaches reminded their players that there was a streak on the line in the Stump on Sports Tennessee-Georgia all-star baseball game.

"Naw, they didn't say much -- don't blow it," said winning pitcher Dakota Hudson.

The big right-hander was named the game's MVP after allowing just one hit while striking out in three innings. And Tennessee extended its win streak to four with a 5-4 victory at Ridgeland High.

"There's no such thing as almost in baseball," Tennessee head coach Greg Payne responded to some good-natured ribbing about being a Georgia boy coming home and seeing a win almost slip away. "Nobody asks by how much. You either win or you lose."

One of the big reasons was Hudson, the 6-foot-5, 200-pounder who bypassed a chance to join the Texas Rangers to honor a commitment to Mississippi State.

What the former Sequatchie County player did bordered on unfair.

"He's everything they said he was. He threw some pitches and I just said, 'That's not fair," said Payne, who just finished his first season heading McCallie's program. "We knew pitching was our strong point. We'd like to have hit it better but credit to Georgia. Those guys pitched pretty well too."

"It was surprising [to win the award]," Hudson said. "As a team we were able to capitalize on some errors, but it was a battle all the way through."

McEachern's Dalton Geekie matched Hudson in strikeouts, getting six in two innings of work. He was named Georgia's player of the game.

Tennessee's player of the game was Silverdale's Spencer Mossberg, who had a 2-for-3 night with a pair of stolen bases.

"I asked some of my guys who've played with him forever about who should start and they said Spencer, that he was the best player in the game and that he should lead off and that's what we did," Payne said.

Mossberg also threw a scoreless first inning for the pitching-talent laden Tennessee team.

"I pitched all right. I guess it was a good outing and I played all right. I guess what I think about right now is striking out once and making an error," said the Times Free Press Player of the Year. "But getting out here and playing with these guys was a lot of fun."

Mossberg and Josh Poole, the Central catcher who's Sewanee-bound, were the only multi-hit performers, both getting a pair of singles.

Georgia had seven total hits in the nine-inning game while Tennessee finished with nine.

Baylor's Colton Jumper picked up the save.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.

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