CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Clinching the District 6-4A regular season title, Bradley Central pushed its current winning streak to a dozen Monday at the McKenzie Baseball Complex.
Getting a two-hit shutout from Lee University signee Alex Brew, the Bears blanked East Hamilton 2-0 in the first of their District 6-4A three-game series.
"Always good to clinch the No. 1 seed (for the district tournament)," commented veteran "Papa Bear" Travis Adams, who did so for the eighth time in his 17th season heading up his alma mater.
"Proud of our boys over coming a slow start and keeping with the process.
Tonight’s game was controlled by both pitchers and Alex (Brew) shut them out, throwing a complete game was on point!
"Josh Leek's timely hit (a two-run double in the fourth frame) was as well and our defense made some great plays to shut down any momentum they (EH) were trying to create."
The teams will meet Tuesday evening, in Collegedale, and back on "Joe Adams Squeezeway" Thursday.
The second and fourth-to-last batter for East Hamilton (11-12, 3-3 District 6-4A) were the lone hits off Brew, who struck out eight and walked two, while facing just three over the minimum in Bradley's fifth shutout of the season.
After Grayson Maddox stroked a one-out single in the top of the first and Max Bohannon drew a walk, the Bears set down the next 17 Hurricanes in a row.
A leadoff single in the top of the seventh by Bohannon was the only other safety for the visitors.
The Bradley bats struggled as well early in the contest against Tennessee Tech commit Carson Davis, who got four of the first five Bears by strikeouts.
The hosts were able to make a threat in the second frame when sophomore Tyler Cook laced a single and Northwestern football commit Tito Williams stroked a double. A walk to Leek jammed the sacks, but Davis got out of the inning with a fly ball to center field.
Bradley got another runner in scoring position in the third when UTC football signee Luke Keith reached on an infield hit and moved to second on a throwing error. However, once again induced a fly ball for the final out.
The Bears finally broke through in the fourth when Spane Bristol opened the at bat with a solid single before Cook was "plunked."
After a sac bunt by Williams, Leek stepped into the box and the Bryan College signee "pinged" a shot off the left-field wall for a two-bagger, driving in Bristol and Cook.
After a leadoff single by Keith in the fifth, Davis set down five of the outs on Ks, giving him 10 on the night to go with a trio of free passes.
Keith went 2-for-3 in the six-hit Bear attack, while Leek reached twice with his double and a walk.
Game Summary
District 6-4A
Monday, April 15
at McKenzie Baseball Complex
East Hamilton 000 000 0 — 0 2 1
Bradley Central 000 200 x — 2 6 0
Davis and Maddox; Brew and Stott.
WP: Alex Brew. LP: Carson Davis.
Records: East Hamilton 11-12, 3-3 District 6-4A; Bradley Central 14-6, 7-0 District 6-4.