Harker earns coaching win No. 1

Furman first baseman Brandon Elmy celebrated his return to the lineup in a big way Friday to help Brett Harker win his first game as a head coach. Elmy drove in four runs and Will Gaddis allowed one run in six innings as the Paladins defeated Dayton, 9-3, in the 2017 season opener at Latham Stadium.
While Harker was thrilled to get past the first game with a win, the Fountain Inn native said the view wasn't much different from his new seat in the dugout.
"It just felt like a normal game. It's something we've been doing our whole life," Harker said. "I have a great coaching staff. It felt oddly normal and the guys played really well."
Harker said any Opening Day nerves were soothed early when Furman scored three runs in the first and added another in the second. Elmy, who missed the last month-and-a-half of the 2016 season with a broken wrist, provided the big early hit with a two-run single with two out in the first.
While Gaddis didn't have the type of electric stuff he's displayed often in the past, the reigning Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year was still effective. He gave up one run on four hits (all singles) in six innings with two walks and four strikeouts.
Three of those hits and one walk came in Dayton's third inning. The Flyers loaded the bases twice in the inning but only got one run on a sacrifice fly by their top hitter, Robbie Doring. The only other hit off Gaddis came in the fifth, but he got Doring to bounce into an inning-ending double play to maintain Furman's 4-1 lead.
"That's what makes him special. To be honest with you, he didn't have much," Harker said. "He just found a way to grind it out and make some big pitches."
After the Paladins scored three runs in the fifth, Elmy helped put the game out of reach with a two-run home run with two out in the seventh.
"That was the biggest swing of the game going from 7-1 to 9-1 because screwy things can happen at the end of games," Harker said. "I thought that could be two really big runs for us there and sure enough, they were."
Dayton cut the lead to 9-3 in the eighth, then loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. Jake Crawford came on to quickly end any comeback hopes of the Flyers. The sophomore from Honea Path had a three-pitch strikeout then got Doring to pop up the first pitch to end the game.
The teams play game two of the series Saturday at 1 p.m.