Zac Curtis was heading out for a meal at In-N-Out Friday with some of his teammates at Class A Visalia when he got a text from pitching coach Jeff Bajenaru.

In the text, Bajenaru told Curtis that he needed to get back to the ballpark immediately because manager J.R. House is “really mad at you.”

“I didn’t know if they were serious or playing,” Curtis said. “House has a tipping scale where you really don’t know what’s going on.”

Curtis rushed back to the ballpark and found House, who stared at him for a moment. Then he gave Curtis the news: He was getting promoted.

“I’m thinking, ‘Cool, I get to go to Double-A,’ ” Curtis said. “He said, ‘That’s why (Saturday) morning you’re going to fly to Phoenix to meet the team.’ I sat there for a second and he said, ‘You’re going to the major leagues.’ I kept telling him, ‘Stop. No. Quit playing with me.' ”

It was no joke. The Diamondbacks called up Curtis, a 23-year-old left-hander from Visalia, the first time in franchise history Arizona has called up a player from below Double-A to make his major-league debut that wasn’t a Rule 5 player (catcher Oscar Hernandez).

“It still hasn’t hit me,” said Curtis, a sixth-round draft choice out of Middle Tennessee State in 2014 who had never been inside Chase Field before Saturday. “I’m just trying to take everything in.”

Curtis was 1-0 with two saves and a 5.23 ERA at Visalia. In three minor-league seasons he’s 7-5 with 49 saves and a 2.17 ERA. He was so far off the Diamondbacks radar even during spring training that manager Chip Hale had to call up some video Saturday to see what kind of pitcher the organization was sending him.

“What we’ve heard is he can get righties and lefties out and he’s got a workable breaking ball, which I’ve seen on video,” Hale said. “He’s a real tough competitor, which is great.”

Hale said Curtis likely will be used as a left-handed specialist.

“In a perfect world we’d like to be winning a game and he would pitch in situations to get one or two guys out at a time,” Hale said.

Curtis did just that Saturday, making his major-league debut in the ninth inning and getting Colorado's Gerardo Parra to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

Curtis said his favorite moment of the last 24 hours was breaking the news to his wife, Chelsea, who’s an X-ray technician in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.

“She’s put up a lot,” Curtis said. “She’s raising our child (2-year-old Greyson), I’m gone all the time and she pushes me to get better. If I have a bad outing or even a good outing, she’s there to talk about it. She’s there to help me get through this.

“Getting to wake her up to tell her our dream, not just mine, came true, it was special.”

To make room for Curtis on the roster, the Diamondbacks designed left-handed reliever Keith Hessler for assignment.

Hale said one of the reasons Curtis was brought up was to give the Diamondbacks a second left-hander out of the bullpen. Andrew Chafin already has 12 appearances, although he’s thrown just 9 2/3 innings in those appearances. Last year Chafin threw 75 innings in 66 games.

“We don’t want to burn out Chafin,” Hale said

The Commandos and Buccaneers put their cross-town rivalry aside to honor retired Hendersonville Parks Director Dave LeMarbre on Tuesday April 26 before their game at Drakes Creek Park. 

 Mr. LeMarbre served as the Parks Director for over 35 years.  His influence in our community goes generations and crosses all boundaries of schools.  Both teams were present on the field and Mr LeMarbre and his wife Trish were present. The Beech squad presented Dave with an engraved bat and the HHS Dugout Club presented Mr. LeMarbre with a framed jersey.

Without the influence of Mr. LeMarbre our current facility at Field 3 would not look the way it does, we would not have a turf infield and our park would not be able to host such great events.  We are all indebted to Mr LeMarbre for his years of service and wish him the best in his retirement. 

The Commandos got back on the winning track in front of a packed house at Drakes Creek Park by defeating Beech 4-1 to clinch the North Division District 9AAA Title.  Will Wacaser picked up his 5th win of the year in a complete game effort.  Below is the full story from Chris Brooks of the Hendersonville Star News.....

Commandos’ early offense is enough

   

 

 

Hendersonville High senior Jon Swindle (7) and Commando teammates celebrate with sophomore Brett Coker (at left) after his first-inning home run on Tuesday evening.

HENDERSONVILLE Brett Coker liked the first pitch he saw, so he did what hitters like to do … hit it out of the park.

The Hendersonville High sophomore led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run off of Beech junior starting pitcher Ian McWilliams, helping lead the Commandos’ to a 4-1 victory over visiting Beech on Tuesday evening at Drakes Creek Park.

 

Beech High senior shortstop Tyler Maskill receives a throw as Hendersonville senior Grant Williams steals second base during first-inning action.

“I didn’t think (McWilliams) was going to throw me a curveball first pitch,” Coker said. “I was sitting back on the fastball.”

It was Coker’s first home run of the season, and he drove in senior Ian McMaster with a second-inning fielder’s choice.

 

Hendersonville High senior Will Wacaser picked up the complete-game victory in the Commandos’ 4-1 victory over Beech on Tuesday evening.

“He’s been a great asset to our team since he moved up here last summer from Florida,” Hendersonville head coach Mike Hendrix said of Coker. “He’s really helped us.”

It was enough run support for Hendersonville senior Will Wacaser, who was one out away from a scoreless outing before Beech senior Jacob Jenkins helped the Buccaneers (17-12 overall, 6-3 in District 9-AAA) avoid the shutout with a solo home run – his sixth of the season – in the top of the seventh inning.

 

Beech High senior Jacob Jenkins singles during the first inning of Tuesday evening’s 4-1 loss at Hendersonville. Jenkins homered in the seventh inning.

The victory clinched the District 9-AAA North Division title for the Commandos (21-4, 8-1), who will host their half of the district tournament.

“(Hendersonville) hit it, and we got out of the (first) inning (allowing just one run),” Beech head coach Jimmy Neal said. “If we can’t score one run, we’re not going to win anyway.”

Reach Chris Brooks at cbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118. Follow him on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.

Beech    000 000 1 – 1 6 2

Hendersonville  110 002 x – 4 8 0

Ian McWilliams and Ryan Mortensen; Will Wacaser and Cooper Brenning. WP – Wacaser (5-1). LP – McWilliams (3-1). Home runs: Beech – Jacob Jenkins (6); Hendersonville – Brett Coker (1). Records: Beech 17-12 overall, 4-1 in the District 9-AAA North Division; Hendersonville 21-4, 5-0.