Cascade's Christian Edmondson (24) slides under the tag of Community second baseman Grant Patterson. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Heading into the top half of the third inning, onlookers in Unionville thought they might be in for a nail-biter with Cascade holding down a narrow 2-1 lead over rival Community.

Then, eight orange jerseys made plate appearnances in the third, three of whom scored thanks in part to a double from Nick Batts and singles via Kyle Clanton and Tyler Bowen.

Cascade went on to score at least one run in every inning from then on, including a four-run seventh, to pull out of town with a 14-2 victory, which runs their District 9-A winning streak to 21.

The Champions (12-2, 6-0 9-A) went deep into their pitching staff, using seven different arms to hold the Vikings (2-3-1, 2-2) to three hits.

"We've got some soreness in some of our arms we want to work out after last weekend," Cascade coach Chris Parker said. "(Josh) Brown was the only guy we held back a lot from the Warrior Classic. We wanted to get some guys some work and a chance to win all at the same time."

Jay Bishop started and earned the win. They totaled 10 strikeouts and only two walks.

"(Parker) threw seven guys at us, and I think he still had two or three over there left," Viking coach Josh Burrahm said. "He's deep pitching-wise."

MoMo Stewart singled, stole second base and scored the first run of the game in the Champion half of the first. Brown followed with a walk and came around to push their upper hand to 2-0.

Community answered right back. Cody Pierce reached base thanks to one of six Cascade errors. He scored four batters later on a fielder's choice by Chris West.

Lance Paschal tripled with one down in the bottom of the third and touched home after another Champion error off the bat of Grant Patterson.

"We definitely hit the ball better than we did Monday, but the fielding's still not there," Burrahm said.

Batts enjoyed a perfect night at the dish. The senior left fielder tripled twice, doubled, singled and drove in four runs. Corey Mullins added an RBI double in the seventh. Zack Hill worked counts for a trio of free passes.

Both teams now turn their attention to the 3rd Annual Walking Horse Wood Bat Classic. Unfortunately, the early-April invitational has been tormented by bad weather and this year's version doesn't look much more optimistic.

All games for tonight at Liberty and Cascade have already been cancelled. If Community is able to get their game in this evening, they face Cannon County at 7.

The 16 teams hope to resume Friday's action as scheduled.

Community is set to host Cornersville at 3:30 and South Pittsburg at 7:30 on Friday.

"We just want to go out there, play hard and hopefully have a few good days," Burrahm said.

"If we can get after it and compete, hopefully we can get some wins out of this weekend and get back on the winning track. We've kind of gone backwards a little as far as starting with the Moore County game."

Fourth-ranked Cascade's showdown with sixth-ranked Summertown in a rematch of last year's sectional game has been wiped off the schedule, but Parker is confident the rest of his slate will test his bunch.

"We're probably playing the toughest schedule of anybody in the tournament," he said. "We want to learn to play the right way with the wood and get better and get prepared for (Middle Tennessee Christian) on Monday and Tuesday."

The Champs face Northwest on Friday night at 7:30. On Saturday, they have Perry County at 10 a.m. and No. 5 Richland at 6 p.m.

The Vikings' Saturday schedule has them heading to H.V. Griffin Park for a 10 a.m. matchup with University School of Nashville.