BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – After an impressive shutout win in game one of the District 9-AA series against Loretto (4-2, 1-1) on Monday, the Cascade Champions (5-3, 1-1) were unable to create enough contact at the plate in the 2026 home opener on Tuesday in a 5-0 defeat.

At the plate, Cascade generated just four base hits all night.

A.J. Manus got the start for Cascade on the bump, putting up 5.0 innings of work and giving up four earned runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out seven batters on 86 pitches.

“A.J. threw the ball well,” Cascade Head Coach Travis Sheffield said postgame, “That’s all you can ask of a guy is to go out there and give it all he’s got.”

Wickey Parker came on in relief to start the sixth inning, giving up one earned run on two hits and two walks with one strikeout on 36 pitches.

For the Mustangs, Mason Tidwell started on the mound, but only lasted 2.0 innings. He struck out three batters and walked one with no hits on 35 pitches. George Springer came on in long relief, getting the next 12 outs while allowing just three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts on 70 pitches. Finally, Grant Fisher was inserted to close out the final three outs, and after giving up a base hit, he settled down to strike the final two batters out.

“Their [Loretto’s] pitching did what they had to do,” Sheffield said, “They went right at us. If they threw 20 off-speed pitches all game I’d be shocked. It was mostly fastballs, and we just weren’t fully ready to hit them. We were a little tardy. The approach against a hard-throwing lefty is typically to go backside, but when you overcompensate on staying inside the baseball, you wind up tardy, and that’s what happened to us.” 

Loretto scored three runs in the fourth inning after Tidwell led off with a single to left followed by a Ralee Ellis double before a dropped third strike allowed Tidwell to reach home safely and break the seal. Cooper Burleson followed that up with an RBI-single to score Ellis, and then after a bunt single preceded a flyout, Brayden Bennett delivered a sacrifice fly to left that allowed the Mustangs to take a 3-0 lead.

The visitors would score one more in the fifth and one in the seventh for insurance. 

At the plate for Cascade, Jordan Childress went 2-for-4 with a triple, Daymien Maldonado batted 1-for-3, and Thomas Demartelaere finished 1-for-3. Wickey Parker drew a pair of walks. The Champions stranded seven runners on base.

Cascade falls to 5-3 overall. The Champions return to district play on Monday, Mar. 30 at Chapel Hill for game one of a two-game series.