How Upperman lost emotional Class 3A baseball final to Greeneville

MURFREESBORO — Tyler Jared lay for a moment at the scene of the final out Friday, letting Upperman High School's 1-0 loss in the Class 3A baseball state final sink in at MTSU's Reese Smith Jr. Field.

Several boys in black jerseys and black pants rushed toward second base to console their teammate, who had a million things flash through his mind after he went down in scorebook history as the final out of the heartbreaker against Greeneville.

Jared, the back end of a double play who was caught off second base after a line drive, thought about his team's success this season. He thought about its state championship last season. He thought about what could have been on this Friday.

All those thoughts racing through his head threaded back to one common denominator: Dristin Jared.

Dristin was Tyler's older brother. Dristin died Jan. 24 after spending a couple of weeks fighting for his life in Vanderbilt's trauma center after a car accident. He was 23 years old. He was someone Tyler looked up to.

"This season was for him," Jared said after collecting two of the Bees' three hits Friday. "I think we did good.

"It was a struggle. I didn't know if I was going to get to play or not."

Jared knew Friday's game was over before the second-base umpire made it official with a shake of his right fist.

But it didn't end without a fight from the Bees against Greeneville pitcher Carson Quillen, who struck out seven and walked none in seven innings.

Save for a wild pitch in the first inning that allowed the game's only run to score, Upperman right-hander, reigning Class 3A Mr. Baseball Eli Huddleston, went pitch for pitch with Virginia Tech commit Quillen, striking out seven and walking none while allowing four hits in six innings.

The one that got away from Huddleston, a Tennessee Tech commit, in the first inning was a result of some miscommunication between him and catcher Rookie Allison, he said.

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"I was just hoping not to give up any more runs," said Huddleston, who had his team's only other hit. "Hoping we could get a run in the last inning."

But it wasn't to be.

Huddleston slapped a single to right-center field with one out in the top of the seventh for Upperman (32-12). Jared followed with a sharp single to left field that left Huddleston's courtesy runner Evan Huddleston on third base. Jared advanced to second base on an error, leaving 90 feet between Evan Huddleston and a tie score, and 180 feet between Jared and the lead.

Then it was Julian Llano's turn to bat. He hit the fifth pitch he saw right at Greeneville second baseman Maddox Bishop, who flipped the ball to shortstop Colton Richards. Jared was out. The ballgame, and season, was over.

"I was sharing a moment with them, saying, 'Hey, guys, this is a tough moment. It's going to sting -- pun intended,'" Upperman coach Wes Shanks said. "They were the kids who went through (COVID). ... You have to remember what they went through. They went through COVID, then we had a .500 season and then, boom, we win a state title with that same group (last year) and get back."

What did Shanks make of his team's seventh inning at the bat?

"Here we go again," he said.

He then rattled off a number of times his team had come back late in games, praised his team's resolve.

Victory wasn't to be Friday. That doesn't mean the season was a loss for the Bees, or Eli Huddleston

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Eli Huddleston, Upperman come up short in emotional 2A baseball final