Dominant pitching led to 5-0 victory for the Bradley Central Bears on senior night over Chattanooga Central at Toby McKenzie Baseball Complex on Monday night .
Senior starter Chase Hamilton threw a perfect two innings as five Bears pitchers contributed to a three-hit shutout against the Purple Pounders.
No pitcher threw more than two innings for the Bears as Bradley Head Coach Travis Adams looked to give his pitchers a chance to get one last outing in before the district tournament starts on Thursday.
“I was excited, but it was a little sad and bittersweet being senior night and everything,” Hamilton said.
“But it was really just a maintenance outing to keep us fresh.”
Gunner Norwood, Charlie Hammonds, Brandon Thompson and Austin Calfee also contributed on the mound for Bradley Central. Thompson and Calfee each threw a scoreless inning, but it was Hammonds who came in out of the bullpen to throw two innings and get the win.
Hammonds led all pitchers in the game with four strikeouts, while walking none and allowing just two base runners.
“It was really just a freshen up game going in to the district tournament,” Adams said. “We wanted to keep them sharp going in to Thursday … and it was just a good last dress rehearsal.”
While it was the pitching that dominated the games outcome, it was the seniors who dominated the storyline. Calfee, Tanner Cox, Hamilton and Ty King started their last games at the Toby McKenzie Baseball Complex as their Bradley Central careers come to a close. The seniors combined for three hits, three runs and and two RBI in eight at-bats.
Both Hamilton and King will continue their baseball careers at Cleveland State and Tennessee Tech, respectively.
“They’ve been outstanding leaders on and off the field,” Adams said. “They’re a small group, but it’s a good group … Each one of them has different talents, but they’re resilient as a group.”
It’s those arms that Adams said he hopes to lean on to make a deep tournament run. The bats will need to be there as well, and they were against Chattanooga Central.
Cox got the game's hitting started in the bottom of the first with a line drive single to left field. Calfee followed with a single of his own before both runners advanced on a passed ball. Norwood walked which set up a single by King that scored Cox.
With two outs in the inning, Thompson hit a another single to score Calfee and Norwood. Cason Still followed with yet another single to score King and bring the Bears’ fourth run of the inning across the plate.
The score remained 4-0 for much of the contest. Chattanooga Centrals’ Andrew Bingham came out of center field after the first inning to throw three innings of one-hit ball. The only other run of the game came on a fielder’s choice by Calfee that scored Tyler Carpenter.
The win pushed Bradley Central to 11-15-1 (7-5) on the season and dropped Chattanooga Central to 15-13 (8-2). It was the last regular season game for both teams.
Chattanooga Central 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 3 1
Bradley Central 4 0 0 1 0 0 x – 5 8 1
(Follow Mark Pace on Twitter @THEMarkPace and email him MarkEPace@gmail.com)