Top seed within Cascade's grasp

Cascade inched themselves closer to a regular season District 9-A crown and the top seed in the tournament with a 10-4 win over visiting Middle Tennessee Christian in a battle of squads previously undefeated in district play.

Champion junior Justin Bryant avoids a tag at third base on a steal attempt. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

"It's a big win," Champion coach Chris Parker said. "We're running a marathon and that's definitely a couple paces in the right direction."

Taylor Beckham had one of three first-inning singles for the Cougars and came around to score with two outs.

Cascade (18-5, 7-0 9-A) sprinted past the visitors for good with two scores in the bottom half of the inning, highlighted by a MoMo Stewart leadoff home run.

"We went out in the top of the first and gave up a run," Parker said. "MoMo came right back and answered that bell and we rang it a few more times. They did a good job of handling the game mentally and getting that lead for us early."

Hits via Stewart, Zack Hill and Tyler Bowman keyed a three-run second.

Cascade's Corey Mullins beats a throw down to second that is fielded by Cougar shortstop Taylor Beckham. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Beckham worked a walk to lead off the Middle Tennessee Christian third and came around to plate their second tally to draw to within 5-2.

Cascade found their stride and scored twice in the bottom of the frame thanks to a pair of Cougar errors and walks.

After Bowman and Justin Bryant reached on walks and scored, the Champions had a chance to end matters in the fifth. But, a pop up with runners in scoring position and two down ended the threat.

Two errors, a hit batsman and a walk contributed to MTC's final scores as the hosts got sloppy near the game's conclusion.

"That just shows a little bit of youth that we have," Parker said. "We are used to battling back. We're not so used to playing with a bigger lead.

"We need to do a good job of getting on our toes and doing things the right way and keep playing the game hard. You're always supposed to play like you're two (runs) down."

Bowman gave up five hits and three walks while striking out three in six innings pitched to get the win. Stewart paired his solo bomb with a double. Corey Mullins doubled and singled. Hill and Bowman had two hits.

Cascade's Matt Bain slides late but successfully as he swipes second base. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Timmy Hendrix doubled and singled for the Cougars (14-5, 6-1). Beckham took the loss.

The Orange and Black can take a two-game lead on MTC with a win in Murfreesboro today 5:30.

"We've got one of our best pitchers on the hill and some other ones to back him up," Parker said. "We'll come out and we'll be ready to play."

Stewart is expected to handle the pill for the Champs. Jake Siler is slated to man the hill for the Cougars.