The Cleveland Blue Raiders collected a big 5AAA triumph on the road Monday night as pitcher Hayden Sells mowed down the Ooltewah Owls with a nifty three-hit, 12-strikeout performance in a 2-1 victory.
Cleveland got the winning run in the top of the sixth, scoring the go-ahead tally without hitting the ball out of the infield. Jonathan Powers led off with an infield single to short, and Sells attempted to bunt him into scoring position.
The bunt was thrown away and Powers circled the bases for the eventual game winner.
The Blue Raiders had taken a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a Powers’ single, a passed ball and Sells run-scoring single, but the Owls knotted in the bottom of the frame on Andrew Zettel’s RBI-single after Fisher Perry reached on an error and Dominic Mackaluso doubled. Sells wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam, though, to limit to damage with a strikeout and groundout.
Mackaluso was the hard-luck loser, striking out eight and allowing just six singles while walking none. Powers was the only player with two hits. The win moves Cleveland to 4-3 in 5AAA play and drops the Owls to 4-5.
Bradley 3, Walker Valley 2: The Bears rallied for a pair of runs in the seventh and then escaped a no-out tying runner on third in the bottom of the inning to pull off the thrilling win.
Bradley’s Ashton Simmons was in the thick of things in both halves of the inning. Simmons led off with a single and went to second on an error before Ethan Lambreth plated him with the tying run. Another error allowed Lambreth to second and Cooper Casteel singled him home with what proved to be the game winner.
The Mustangs opened the bottom of the inning with a single by Geo Angeles who made it all the way to third when the ball was misplayed in the outfield. Simmons came in to relieve Casteel and promptly picked Angeles off at third before getting the final two fly outs to end it.
The Mustangs had taken the lead with runs in the second and fourth. Connor Crumley walked and scored on Landon Wallace’s double for a 1-0 lead. Two more walks put runners on in the fourth for Walker Valley and Angeles made it 2-0 with a run-scoring single. The Bears got one back in the fifth after a leadoff Aiden McClary triple was followed by Landen Kibler’s sac fly to make it 2-1 and set up the rally.
Casteel went six innings for the Bears, striking out eight and allowing just four hits, but he did walk six. Mustangs ace Ben Smith went six innings as well and matched Casteel with eight Ks and just four hits, while walking four.
Simmons, Lamberth and McClary each had two hits while Angeles had two of Walker Valley’s four hits.
The win moves Bradley 4-3 in 5AAA while Walker Valley falls to 5-4.
Hixson 13, East Ridge 3: The Wildcats used five different pitchers to get some work in, and banged out 11 hits to races to a commanding 10-0 lead in the five-inning 6AA affair. Brad Dossett got the win with a perfect inning of work, striking out all three of his batters as the Wildcat staff combined to whiff 12 Pioneer hitters. Cooper Bailey had three hits on the day and drove in a run, while Cameron Butler added two and Sam Lott had a double.
Signal Mountain 19, Tyner 0: The Eagles pitching staff notched their fifth shutout of the season and collected their third no-hitter as Sam Witherspoon went three innings to pick up his second no-no of the season. Witherspoon struck out six Rams and drove in two runs with his bat. Braden Wolfard drove in five runs on the day as eight different Signal Mountain hitters had one hit as the Eagles moved to 12-4 on the season.
Silverdale 9, Notre Dame 0: Turner Junkins allowed just four hits and struck out six Irish as the Seahawks continued to roll through district play with the shutout victory. Ian Reagan had two hits and drove in a pair of runs while Brett Rogers added two more hits in a 10-hit attack. The Seahawks remained unbeaten in the league and improved to 13-2-1 on the year.
Boyd Buchanan 12, Grace Academy 2: The Bucs collected 11 hits, including four extra base knocks and four Buc pitchers struck out eight to make easy work of the Eagles. Cooper Jones had three hits including a triple and Codie Johnston added a double among his two hits for the winners. Brodie Johnston added a double and Perry Griffin a triple as well. Caleb Adams had two base hits for Grace.
Baylor 13, CCS 0: The Red Raiders lashed out eight extra base hits among their 11 hits, including homers each by Jay Dill and Danny Corona to back the one-hit pitching of Luke Courdin. Vito Valincius had three hits including a pair of double while Henry Godbout also had three hits. Cooper Kinney was 2for-4 and Dill was 2-for-3 on the day as Baylor improved to 11-2.
McCallie 3-5, Knox Catholic 14-1: The Blue Tornado rallied to take the nightcap of the twinbill by a 5-1 count to earn a split with the Irish. Catholic won the opener 14-3. William Baker notched the win with a six-hitter while striking out eight. Kyle Berry had two hits including a double in the win, while Nolan Sergeant was 2-for-3 with a two-run double.