Lions Advance To Region 3-AAA Finals Against Bradley
by John Hunt
posted May 12, 2008
The Red Bank Lions aren’t known as a home run-hitting baseball team.
They took advantage of four round-trippers Monday night as they beat visiting McMinn County by a 10-6 final in the Region 3-AAA semifinals.
District 5-AAA champ Bradley defeated Soddy Daisy by a 4-1 final, so Wednesday’s Region championship will pit the Bears against the Lions at Red Bank with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.
Both teams will advance to Sectional play with Wednesday’s winner hosting on Friday and the loser hitting the road.
Red Bank improves to 24-15 with their fourth straight win while the Cherokees end their season at 20-15.
The Lions led from their first at-bat as Kacy Bembry’s homer on the second pitch gave Red Bank a quick 1-0 lead.
Craig Barker reached with a walk and scored ahead of Corey Emery’s two-run dinger that cleared the fence in almost the same spot as Bembry’s.
Almost an instant replay in the third, Hunter Adkins ripped a solo shot to left-center to lead things off. Emery singled and scored on a two-run blast by Cullen Clabo.
McMinn scored twice in the third to get back in it before Red Bank’s second three-run outburst.
Will Matthews doubled to lead off and later scored on a Red Bank error while Case Roberts scored the second run on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Smith.
Red Bank made it 9-2 with another three spot in the fourth, but again, McMinn came back with three runs in the sixth.
Tanner Quirk plated two with a home run to left while Brackton Smith singled and scored on another Lion error to make it 9-5.
Emery’s RBI-double in the sixth made it 10-5 before McMinn County rallied again in the top of the seventh.
Red Bank starting pitcher Alan Walden, who allowed six runs on nine hits, struck out the first two Cherokees in the seventh, but he couldn't get the final out.
Andrew Smith walked ahead of singles by Quirk and Brackton Smith, the last one sending the first Smith home with their sixth run.
Pinch-hitter Andy Singleton then got hit by a pitch to load the bases and that signaled the end of the night for Walden.
With the bases loaded and the potential-tying run at the plate, southpaw Brandon Ward got the final batter on a strikeout to end the game.
“Alan pitched a great game. It also helped that we came out swinging the bats,” said Red Bank coach Bumper Reece while raking the dirt around first base after the game ended.
“We have not hit a home run here at home all year and we only had four or five total before the district tournament, but we hit some pretty good shots tonight. We left too many runners in scoring position, but that’s just something we’ll have to work on.
“We’ve been waiting a year for this game tonight because Bradley ended our season last year in the Region semis.
Friday’s game will only be our second time in sub-state play since I’ve been the coach, but we’re playing about as well as we can right now, despite the number of errors we made tonight,” Reece added.
Walden improved to 8-2 with the win. He finished with nine strikeouts and just one walk.
He's just a junior, but he’s a battler and he wants the ball in his hand for big games like this one.
“I thought I threw the ball well and I had some great offensive support behind me. That takes the pressure off. This is the biggest game I’ve ever pitched as it was either win or go home.
"I gave it all I had. I like pitching in big games like this when we play against better teams. Hopefully, we can keep winning,” he added.
McMinn County coach Jason Howard had nothing negative to say about his team or the results in their final game of the season.
“I’m proud of these guys. We’ve had a great season, but unfortunately, we made some mistakes tonight and Red Bank took advantage.
"Blake (Elrod) is our ace, but he had a bad game tonight. He got a couple of balls up and Red Bank hit them out,” he began after a long post-game chat with his players.
“Just like we’ve done all year, we kept battling and we even had a chance when we loaded the bases in the seventh, but they shut the door,” Howard added.
Red Bank finished with 10 runs on 11 hits and six errors.
Bembry and Emery both had three hits with Bembry scoring three times and Emery collecting three runs batted in.
Adkins added two hits and two RBI and he also scored twice. Barker, Ward and Clabo had the other hits with Barker scoring twice.
Brackton Smith had three hits to lead the Cherokees. Matthews and Quirk had two hits apiece with Turner and Bryan Moses having one each.
Elrod was the losing pitcher after surrendering six runs on six hits -- including all four homers -- in three innings.
Bill Calla hurled the final three innings and allowed the last four runs on four hits. He struck out three and didn't walk anyone.
McMinn Co. 002 003 1 – 6 9 2
Red Bank 303 301 x – 10 11 6
Elrod, Calla (4) and Turner; Walden, Ward (7) and Barker.
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)
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