CLEVELAND, Tenn. — An infield hit to open the top of the sixth spoiled Cleveland junior Owen Goglio no-hit bid in Monday's District 5-4A series opener with visiting Rhea County, at Bill Talley Stadium.
Notching a combined 4-0 shutout, Goglio did issue five free passes while striking out a dozen Eagles in six innings of work, before senior Jax Hafley came on for a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, including a pair of Ks, to seal the victory.
The win put the Blue Raiders (18-7, 5-1) within a win of locking up the top seed in the upcoming District 5 Tournament.
The teams will tangle again Tuesday in Evensville, with Rhea (5-16, 1-6) returning to Tally Stadium Thursday to wrap up district regular season play.
RAIDERS 4, EAGLES 0: After sitting down the Rhea batters in order in the top of the first, including two on strikes, Goglio walked the first two batters of the second, prompting a quick visit from Cleveland head coach Brent Tucker.
The meeting on the mound, Goglio refocused and struck out the next three Eagles to get out of the jam.
Once again it the third, Goglio notched a pair of Ks in another 1-2-3 half inning.
Two more strikeouts sandwiched around a ground out and a walk took care of the fourth before he surrendered another free pass in the fifth that came to no avail.
Rhea's Jax Schmitt beat out an infield hit to open the sixth and after a fielder's choice took care of the first out, Goglio's fifth "freebie" put a pair of runners on board, to which he bowed his back by striking out the next two Eagles.
Having thrown 113 pitches, Goglio gave way to Hafley for the final frame and the senior closed out the shutout with back-to-back Ks and a hard hit line drive, snagged by Raider third baseman Jonas Ernest to end the contest.
Cleveland picked up two of its nine hits on the day in the opening inning as sophomore Sam Coleman singled and junior Collin Stuart ripped a double, but they couldn't cash in.
The first Raider run came when junior Caden Tippens opened the bottom of the second with a single, followed by a walk to senior Ty Gardner and another one-base knock by classmate Charley Atha loaded the bases.
Goglio helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly to plate courtesy runner Braylen Pratt, but the hosts left the sacks full as the next two batters struck out and lined out.
The home teams picked up a pair of scores in the third when Coleman walked before back-to-back one-out singles by Ernest and Tippens once again jammed the sacks, with both runs coming in on a Rhea error.
Cleveland tacked on the game's final run in the botom of the fifth as Atha stroked a two-out double before Goglio traded places with him with a two-bagger of his own.
Tippens and Stuart both reached base three times, the former with a couple of singles and he was "plunked," while the latter drew two base on balls and stroked a double.
Atha was also 2-for-3 at the dish with his two-bagger.
GAME SUMMARY
District 5-4A
Monday, April 14
at Bill Talley Stadium
Rhea County 000 000 0 — 0 1 1
Cleveland 012 010 x — 4 9 0
WP: Owen Goglio 6 IP, 12 K, 5 BB, 1 hit, 0 ER. LP: Alex Latshaw 4.2 IP, 2 Ks, 4 BB, 9 hits, 2 ER. 2B: Charley Atha, Collin Stuart, Goglio (C). RBI: Rhea none; Ty Gardner 2, Goglio 2 (C). RECORDS: Rhea County 5-16, 1-6 District 5-4A; Cleveland 18-7, 5-2 District 5-4A.