Sun Valley opens league play with 7-5 win over Piedmont

MONROE — Second-year coach Jeff Stack and the Sun Valley Spartans baseball team opened up conference play with a 7-5 home win over Piedmont on Monday.

The Spartans improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Southern Carolina Conference. Sun Valley finished in a fourth-place tie with Piedmont in 2019 in the SCC.

"Anytime you play Piedmont or anybody in this conference, they are extremely well-coached," Stack said. "I knew when they came here today when this series started, it was going to be a scrappy series because they are well-disciplined… Anytime that you play clean baseball and don't make any errors, you're going to be successful and tonight, we wound up on the right end of that."

Senior infielder Carter DuHaime was 2-for-4 for the Panthers and William & Mary baseball commit Adam Quintero, a junior, was 1-for-3 with a run scored and a RBI.

Sun Valley responded with four runs. Junior Jimmy Kerley hit his second home run of the season, putting the Spartans up 4-1 by the end of the first. He finished the game 2-for-2 at the plate with four RBI.

The Panthers (1-1, 0-1 SCC) had an opportunity to even the game and they did so, compiling four more runs in the third inning alone.

Teammates Lofton Broome, Tyler Wiley, and Blake Smith each had singles that contributed to the Panthers taking the lead, 5-4. As a team, Piedmont had eight hits; senior Chad Sikes was 1-for-3 with two RBI and a walk.

Sun Valley sophomore Mason Tinsley earned the win on the mound in two innings of relief. Starting pitcher Derek Vartanian, a junior, had three strikeouts and allowed five hits. In the top of the sixth inning, relief pitcher Ryan Onson shut the door, striking out three without allowing a hit.

Stack said he believes the culture is changing at his alma mater.

"As far as coming back to Sun Valley, when I got the opportunity, I jumped at it because it was like home to me," Stack said. "Having the opportunity to get my footprint on it … it's been an unbelievable ride so far and it's going to continue."

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