Stayin' alive: Cascade wins 2 at state

Chase Nunley is congratulated by Gavin Elmore after scoring one of Cascade's 27 runs Wednesday. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

MURFREESBORO -- There will be a new name on the 2009 TSSAA Class A state championship trophy.

Cascade made sure of that by eliminating Jackson Christian 13-8 Wednesday night at the BlueCross Spring Fling at Middle Tennessee Christian School's Joe Baron Field.

It was a complete role reversal from the first matchup between the two Tuesday when the Eagles put the Champions in the losers' bracket 12-7.

Instead of falling behind 4-0 as they did previously, Cascade (36-2-1) jumped on top 4-0 in the first inning and extended their lead to 12-3 with an eight-run fifth before holding off a furious comeback by the Eagles (26-15).

"We just wanted to come in, compete and prove that we belonged here. Hopefully we did that today," Cascade coach Brandon Bassham said.

Both teams banged out 14 hits, but as Jackson Christian coach Chuck Cooper noted, the difference was getting the little things right and timeliness.

"Details, man, details," he said. "The first game they missed with a couple pitches over the middle, and we hit them hard with runners on.

"We made 2-3 mistakes on the bases. When the bases were loaded it seemed like we couldn't get a hit, and we got (hits) when they weren't loaded."

The Champs must defeat Summertown (34-6) twice today in order to stay alive and advance to Friday morning's championship. That won't be an easy task as Summertown has scored 26 runs in their two games, both wins, and needed the use of only two pitchers.

However, Cascade has utilized seven of their top eight pitchers already.

Josh Brown was strong on the hill over 7 1/3 innings between the two games. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

"We'll throw the arms that we've got left, which are the freshmen, me and my wife. We'll do the best we can," Bassham said.

The early Cascade advantage over JC was nearly thwarted as Jay Bishop chopped a ball to Eagle first baseman Josh Lindsey with two down. But Bishop busted it up the line and beat Lindsey to the bag to extend the inning and score Jared Carkuff.

After Kyle Mullins singled, Chase Nunley launched a three-run blast to center field.

"I don't know if it took the wind out of us too much," Cooper said of their early deficit. "A seven-inning baseball game is a long time. You get 21 outs and you have to get the other guy out 21 times. Our guys have tremendous composure. A four-run lead with them is really not much. We know we're going to score runs."

Lindsey, the lone Eagle senior, brought his team to within 4-3 after a solo home run to lead off the fourth.

The Orange and Black responded in a major way in their breakout fifth. A pair of freshmen highlighted the inning as Carkuff had two singles and Gavin Elmore banged a three-run double down the right-field line.

"Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way and sometimes when the bleeding starts, it's hard to stop it," Cooper said.

Carkuff and Tyler Bowen totaled three singles. Josh Brown tripled and doubled. Mullins scored three times. Bishop had two hits. Nunley paired his bomb with a double.

Monterey third baseman Josh Cloyd chases Cascade's Ryan Rippy during a rundown. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

"Nunley's a senior, and he's been great for us all year and he was super tonight. As a matter of fact, he was probably the difference in the game defensively and at the plate," Bassham said.

Cascade upped their hit total to 40 for their three games in the tourney.

"We hit the ball great today; we'll have to keep that up tomorrow to have a chance," Bassham said.

Kyle Saylor started and pitched 4 2/3 innings to earn the win. Brown provided dynamite relief by tossing 2 1/3 shutout frames.

Losing pitcher Hunter Creasy did his best to help his cause at the plate by slamming two doubles and a single. Cody Jones, Tyler Helton, Dakota Coplin and Martin Key added two knocks apiece.

Cascade 14, Monterey 3: The Champs earned the school's first-ever state tournament victory by smoking the Wildcats with 18 hits.

"It's big to get that off our back. We played well early and got the 6-0 lead and then lost focus a little bit. We rebounded and hung on," Bassham said.

Kyle Saylor gets plunked in the back with the bases loaded to drive in a run against Jackson Christian. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

"Any win here is special, especially being the school's first win."

They had a chance to invoke the run rule with a 12-2 lead with two down in the bottom of the fifth before Monterey's Andrew Phillips extended matters with a two-run single to left field.

Brown started on the hill and got the 'W' with seven strikeouts in just four innings. Bishop and Ryan Rippy took over from there.

Bishop singled twice, tripled and drove home three runs. Saylor connected for three singles. Bowen, Brown, Carkuff and Nunley all tallied two hits.

Josh Cloyd and Cody Matthews had two hits apiece for Monterey (21-8).