By JOE BYRD

Sports Writer

JOHNSON CITY -- Unaka has advanced to the region baseball tournament for so many consecutive years that even the Rangers themselves don't have a clear recollection of when was the last time they didn't go.

North Greene hoped to start a tradition of its own here Wednesday night by beating Unaka in the District 1-A loser's bracket final, but apparently old habits are hard to break.

The Rangers pounded out four home runs on their way to a 15-4 win over the Huskies that closes out North Greene's season.

"I'm proud of what we accomplished," said Huskies coach Jason Shelton. "They played hard all year. Unfortunately, we didn't make it any farther. Based on the number of players we lost last year, we had a pretty good season. We had some boys step up and give us a chance. That's about all you can ask."

The Huskies weren't without some heavy hitting of their own.

Luke Williams hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to highlight the game, but unfortunately for North Greene, the Rangers were already out of reach.

Unaka got a two-run base hit from Adam Colbaugh to spark a five-run first inning for the Rangers. They added three more in the second, anchored by a two-run hit from Drew Chambers. Hunter Taylor hit a solo homer in the fourth to move the Rangers clear 9-0.

Willie Schlotman drew a walk, and Markus Ward hit a double to set the table for Williams' home run.

Unaka added one in the fifth and then blew the roof off in the sixth. Colbaugh and Chambers led off the inning with back-to-back home runs, and Josh Peterson added a two-run bomb before the inning ended.

North Greene's final run came in the bottom of the sixth when Ward led off with his second hit of the game and was driven in by Cody Jones.

Chambers got the pitching win for the Rangers (17-12), striking out six in five innings.

Ward went two-for-three with a double and two runs scored for the Huskies.

The Huskies finish the year with an 11-16 record.

Unaka will play University High for the District 1-A championship tonight.

Una AB R H NG AB R H

P'trson, cf 4 3 2 Jones, 3b 2 0 0

Taylor, 3b 5 2 1 Miller, cf 2 0 0

Peters, 1b 4 1 0 W'ding, ph 1 0 0

C'lbgh, c 2 3 2 Adams, ss 3 0 1

Ch'mbrs, p 3 2 2 Hopson, p 2 0 0

S'mers, dh 4 1 1 S'tman, 1b 1 1 0

Pierce, ss 0 0 0 Ward, 2b 3 2 2

Rasnick, rf 4 0 1 W'lms, rf 2 1 1

Taylor, 2b 4 2 3 Peters, lf 2 0 1

C'vrubs, lf 3 1 1 Ball, c 3 0 0

TOTALS 33 15 13 TOTALS 21 4 5

2b hits: NG - Ward. HR: Una - Peterson, Taylor, Colbaugh, Chambers. NG - Williams. LP: Hopson. WP: Chambers.

Score by innings:

Unaka 530 115 -- 15 13

North Greene 000 301 -- 4 5