CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The Cleveland Blue Raiders broke open a close game thanks in part to an Ooltewah team that proved to be in a very giving mood.
The Owls had taken a 2-0 early lead in their first at bat with three straight hits from Fisher Perry, Dominic Mackaluso and Andrew Zettel before Cleveland starter Will Godwin settled in. Mackaluso’s double plated the first run and Zettel’s single made it 2-0.
Cleveland got one of the runs quickly as Godwin tripled after Hayden Sells walked to close it 2-1.
The Blue Raiders added two more in the fifth without hitting a ball out of the infield. A pop fly fell near the pitcher’s mound for a single and a sac bunt was misplayed at first to tie it at 2-2. Mycah Jordan made it all the way to third on the misplayed bunt and scored the go-ahead run on a ground out.
Things really fell apart for the Owls in the sixth as Cleveland pushed across four runs thanks to four Ooltewah errors. A walk, a Jameson Eidson single and then error by the pitcher loaded the bases. Sells then lined a single to right that was misplayed by the outfielder allowing three runs, and when the relay throw was mishandled, Sells cruised all the way around to make it 7-2.
Godwin only gave up four more hits after the first inning flare up and struck out nine Owl hitters. Isaac Hughes gave up just five hits, but hurt his cause with five walks. Eidson and Sells each had two hits for the Blue Raiders.
East Hamilton 6, Soddy Daisy 1: The Hurricanes got a solid pitching outing from Gray Williams and strung together a seventh-inning three spot to stretch out a 3-0 lead in earning the sweep of the Trojans. Williams struck out 11 on the night in a 118-pitch effort before turning it over to Carson Hedrick who got the final out to seal it.
The Canes got to Trojans starter Aaron Watson with a single run in the second after Hedrick doubled and Khaleel Marshall plated him with a single. A pair of walks and a single by Williams loaded the bases for East Hamilton in the fourth before Joe Quinlan singled to make it 2-0. Jax Phillips ground out made it 3-0 and it stayed that way until the final inning.
In the seventh, the Canes pushed across a trio of runs as Ethan Evans had a two-run single and Marshall plated another with a ground out. Cam Natale broke up the shutout in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI-single.
DISTRICT 5AAA STANDINGS
McMINN COUNTY 6-2
BRADLEY 5-3
CLEVELAND 5-3
WALKER VALLEY 5-5
OOLTEWAH 4-6
EAST HAMILTON 3-5
SODDY DAISY 2-5
NEXT UP: April 19-20
Bradley vs Ooltewah
Soddy Daisy vs Cleveland
McMinn County vs East Hamilton
Bye: Walker Valley
Central 19, Howard 1: Jailon Jackson and Jacob Nation combined to drive in nine runs as the Pounders backed the two-hit pitching of Elijah Dill to secure the District 6AA win. Jackson and Nation each had two hits as did Kion Jones while Dill struck out 11 Huslin’ Tigers in the win.
Signal Mountain 21, Tyner 0: For the fourth time this year, the Eagles’ pitching staff put a no-hitter on their resume, and for the second time this season, they did it in back-to-back outings. Hunter Davis and Carter Giles combined for the no-no with Davis going three innings and striking out eight and Giles getting in two innings with five whiffs. The Eagles banged out 11 hits and took advantage of 11 walks for the game, and raced out to a 12-0 lead after the first inning. Ty Harper, Ben Timblin, Braden Wolfard and Luke Chamberlain each had two hits.
Hixson 16, East Ridge 0: The Wildcats completed the district sweep of the Pioneers as Maddox Russak needed just 45 pitches to get through three innings for the win. Russak allowed just one hit and struck out eight. Cole Shackelford and Jacob Tobias each had two hits and each drove in four runs apiece while Cameron Butler and Cooper Bailey add a pair of hits as well.
Silverdale 10, Notre Dame 2: The Seahawks got off to hot start with a four-run first and cruised to victory over the Irish. Sebastian Hanks had a first inning RBI-double and Ian Reagan followed with a run-scoring single to make it 2-0. Bryson Cline then ripped the first of his two doubles to push across two more and SBA had more than enough to notch the win column. Turner Junkins, the MTSU-commit, had three hits as did Cline with Junkins getting a pair of RBI. Brody Lamb added two hits for the winners and Maddox Jones got the pitching win, allowing just three hits in three innings. Notre dame got two hits apiece from Josh Deitch and Abraham Shull.
McCallie 10, Knox Catholic 9: The Blue Tornado won a wild one with the Irish as both squads kept putting up crooked numbers before McCallie was able to salt it away with a two-run tally in the fifth and Austin Breedlove closed the door to earn the win.
McCallie scored six runs in the first before Catholic pulled within 6-4. The Blues extended to 8-4 but the Irish rallied again with a five-run fourth to capture the lead at 9-8. In the bottom of the fifth, Javen Johnson got on with a single and Gray Glover singled to tie it again at 9-all. Hudson Calhoun then got the big hit, an RBI-double to give McCallie the lead and Breedlove did the rest. He went the final two innings, striking out four and allowing just one hit.
Nolan Sergeant (RBI), Glover (2RBI), Calhoun (2RBI), and Johnson (RBI) each had two hits for the winners and Frankie Zahrobsky also drove in two runs.
Baylor 17, CCS 1: The Red Raiders continue to lash out extra base hits, collecting six of them on the day as three Baylor hitters went deep and three others had doubles among the eight hits. Baylor pushed across nine runs in the second inning to pretty much end any doubt as Gaston Carmichael, Cooper Kinney and Danny Cornoa had doubles in the inning. Henry Godbout hit a three-run homer in the fourth before Carson Yates and Jay Dill teamed to go back-to-back with long balls in the fifth. Yates was three-run shot. Chris Campanella and Jacob Smith split five innings on the mound allowing just two hits, both of which were collected off the bat of Charger Gavin Headrick.