Bradley Wins Big As Pounder Classic Continues
by John Hunt
posted March 28, 2008
Six more games were played in the 2008 Pounder Classic baseball tournament Friday with some being close and others not being so close.
The Bradley Bears were big winners at Hixson as they improved to 3-0 in pool play with a 9-2 victory over the CSAS Patriots while finishing off a good day’s work with a 19-2 whipping of the Soddy Daisy Trojans in a game that was called after five innings. Hixson held off defending champ Ooltewah by a 4-3 final in the first game of the day on the Wildcats’ diamond.
Greenville nipped Soddy Daisy by a 9-8 final in the opening game at Central’s Cobble Field while Cleveland was impressive in a 9-0 shutout over Central. Davy Crockett and Greenville played the final game of the day at Central.
Four games are on tap at both fields today with the first pitch slated for noon. At Hixson, the Wildcats face CSAS in the first game. Ooltewah meets Bradley at 2:30 while Hixson challenges Soddy Daisy at 5 before Cleveland takes on CSAS at 7:30.
Central and Soddy Daisy open action at Central while the Cleveland-Greenville game follows at 2:30. Davy Crockett and Central collide at 5 while Davy Crockett meets Ooltewah in the final game at 7:30.
Semifinals are set for Sunday at 1 with the championship game set for 4 p.m. at Central.
The Cleveland Blue Raiders haven’t been hitting the ball like Cleveland teams of the past, but after scoring 10 runs on Thursday and nine more on Friday, they appear to be getting over their early-season offensive slump.
It didn’t take long for the Blue Raiders to take charge against Central as three of the first four hitters ripped home runs as Cleveland grabbed an early 3-0 lead.
Tucker Tipton led off the game by ripping the second pitch over the fence in left. Tyler Brown put one almost in the same spot one out later while Brandon Raider followed with a towering shot that also cleared the fence in left.
Raider was the winning pitcher for Cleveland as he held the Purple Pounders hitless through three-plus innings. He went six innings and allowed four hits while striking out five and walking three.
The hard-throwing junior also helped his own cause at the plate. He later added a single in the third and another solo homer in the seventh when Cleveland completely blew the game open with four more runs.
The score was 3-0 through five frames, but Cleveland added two more on Tipton's second homer, this one a two-run blast to left. While Raider had his second homer an inning later, Derek Murray had the other big hit with a two-run single.
Cleveland finished with 15 hits as all but one starter had at least one. Raider was the big gun with three hits and two runs driven in. Murray finished with three singles and two RBI while Tipton had those two homers and three RBI. Derek Shugart and Brown also had two hits apiece.
Left-fielder Alex Ferney had two hits to lead Central’s attack while Ron Freeman and Ben Long had one hit each.
Cleveland coach Ted Carson was smiling when this one ended.
“That’s the way to hit the ball. A lot of outs we made were hit hard. The bats looked great. Brandon (Raider) did a great job on the mound as he threw strikes and did a fine job of keeping them off balance. He’s also our big RBI guy, so it was nice to see him come through there too.
“We have a mighty young team and we’ve struggled a little to start the season, but we’re starting to play better baseball,” Carson concluded after his team improved to 5-6 with their second-straight win.
Central coach Glen Carter is just looking for something positive about his team, but it’s been tough after falling to 1-8-2 with Friday night’s defeat.
“We got out-hit. Cleveland hit it hard and they hit it often. We have struggled at the plate all year. We need to learn how to string some hits together, but we haven’t yet. Cleveland came ready to play and there was very little we could do to stop them,” Carter added.
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