BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions (7-5, 0-2) rebounded from a district series sweep at the hands of Chapel Hill with a pair of wins to open the Viking Classic on Friday against Newton Falls (OH), 16-1, followed by a 12-3 win over Rocket City (AL). 

On Saturday, Cascade opened the day with a one-run loss against Warren County (7-5, 1-1), 9-8, before falling to Heritage (AL), 10-1, to wrap up the weekend.

On Friday afternoon, the Champs kicked off the weekend with a 16-1 run-rule win over the Newton Falls Tigers after five innings. 

Dawson Youngblood got the start on the mound for Cascade, throwing a complete 5.0 innings and giving up just one earned run on three hits and one walk while striking out four batters on 71 pitches.

As a team, Cascade put together nine base hits and two home runs while working 13 total walks. Wickey Parker and Daymian Maldonado both left the yard with two-run tanks to open the scoring in the bottom of the second to give the hosts a 4-0 lead.

Wickey Parker (2) launched his team-high fourth home run of the season in the 2025 Viking Classic. Parker finished 2-8 at the plate with two walks, one homer, and a pair of RBIs.

David Smith

Cascade tacked on one more run in the inning, then added seven more in the bottom of the third to take a 12-0 lead. Four more runs in the bottom of the fourth ballooned the lead to 16-0, and after Newton Falls broke through with one run in the fifth, the run-rule went into effect, sealing the 16-1 win to open the Classic.

In the second game on Friday against Rocket City (10-6), Cascade overcame a 3-0 deficit by scoring 12 unanswered runs, highlighted by a nine-run fourth-inning explosion, to win 12-3. The Champions totaled 12 hits and four walks, with Jaxson Milliken leading the way with a game-high three hits. 

Caleb Crouch, the usual second-basemen for Cascade, got the start on the mound, throwing 4.0 innings and giving up three earned runs on just one hit and three walks while striking out eight batters in 71 pitches. The one hit was a three-run home run by Peyton Haskins in the top of the second inning to put the Rockets ahead, 3-0. 

Cascade chipped away in the bottom of the second and third innings, scoring one run in each to trim the lead down to one run, 3-2, before plating nine runs in the fourth to take the lead for good, 11-3. 

Jordan Childress, Elijah Wesenberg, Caleb Crouch, and Thomas Demartelaere all recorded a double while Daymian Maldonado legged out a three-RBI bases-clearing triple as part of the nine-run fourth inning. 

Thomas Demarteleare (33) went 2-11 at the plate over the weekend while working two walks, batted in four runs, and slapped a double in the 2025 Viking Classic.

David Smith

The Champs tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth to reach the final margin of victory, 12-3, following Wesenberg’s 1-2-3 relief appearance in the top of the fifth inning with two strikeouts on 15 pitches.

To open Saturday, Cascade nearly overcame a 6-0 deficit to walk-off the Warren County Pioneers, but ultimately came up one-run short, 9-8. 

Jordan Childress, Isaac Winton, and Wesenberg all toed the rubber for the Champions, combining to give up six earned runs on nine hits and seven walks while striking out five batters.

At the plate, Childress finished 2-3, Xyakaiah Dixon finished a perfect 3-3 with a pair of RBIs, and Wesenberg, batting ninth, was the only other Champion with a multi-hit night, finishing 2-3. 

Jayden Hathcock went 1-4 with a pair of RBIs while Demartelaere batted 1-4 with one RBI. 

Warren County scored two runs in the first, second, and fourth innings to take a 6-0 lead, but Cascade used a five-run fourth inning to cut the lead down to one run, 6-5. Neither team scored in the fifth, then the Pioneers scored three in the top of the sixth, seemingly putting the game away at 9-5. 

Cascade gave the Pioneers a scare in the home half, plating three runs, but Warren County was able to get the final out to secure the win, 9-8.

In the final game of the weekend, Heritage plated 10 runs on just four hits, but they worked 13 walks en route to a 10-1 win after six innings. 

The visitors scored two runs to open the top of the first before Cascade scored their lone run of the game following their only hit – a leadoff double by Jordan Childress – to cut the lead in half, 2-1. 

Neither team scored in the second, then Heritage plated four runs in the top of the third before scoring four more in the top of the sixth to go up 10-1. 

Wickey Parker got the start on the mound, throwing 3.0 innings and giving up six runs, two earned, on two hits and four walks while striking out eight batters on 77 pitches. River Maddox came on in relief, throwing 2.0 shutout innings despite walking four batters and giving up two hits on 42 pitches.

Cascade travels to Huntland for game one of a two-game non-district series on Monday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m.