BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – Jayden Hathcock pitched yet another complete game, Wickey Parker launched his fifth home run of the season, and the Cascade Champions (16-7, 4-3) outlasted the Community Vikings (4-22, 0-7) in a pitchers’ duel, 3-1, to pick up the win on Senior Night on Monday.

“This senior class [Jayden Hathcock, Jordan Childress, Nicholas Mayhorn, Elijah Wesenberg, Thomas Demartelaere] is special to me,” Cascade Head Coach Travis Sheffield said postgame, “We came into Cascade together, trying to turn a program around. There were no expectations in the beginning, but we had every intention to try and change that and set the bar high. Those guys have done that for four years. They’ve raised the bar for themselves, they’ve raised the bar for the school building, they’ve raised the bar for the community, and they’ve raised the bar for their teammates. This senior class is special, and it shows on the field. The leadership they possess, they’re like coaches out there. They’re going to be extremely successful outside of baseball.”

Hathcock pitched 7.0 innings, giving up just a single unearned run on one base hit and two walks with 11 strikeouts on a season-high 107 pitches to pick up the win.

“He just goes out there and battles,” Sheffield said about his starter, “He couldn’t find the strike zone early with his fastball, but he was finding it with his off-speed pitches. His off-speed was working really well. He’s got four pitches, and he can throw them all for strikes at any point.” 

Meanwhile, for the Vikings, Wes Haley managed to work through 6.0 complete innings, giving up three earned runs on three hits and four walks with six strikeouts on 92 pitches.

Neither team scored in the first three innings as Cascade left a runner stranded in scoring position in all three. 

However, the Champions finally were able to plate a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth after loading the bases with nobody out. Elijah Wesenberg flipped the lineup over with a bunt that drove home River Maddox from third base before Jordan Childress delivered a sacrifice-fly to left field that scored Nicholas Mayhorn from third to take a 2-0 lead. 

After Hathcock set down the Vikings in order in the fifth, Wickey Parker jumped on the first pitch he saw to leadoff the home half, launching his fifth home run over the right field wall to extend the Champions’ lead to 3-0.

Community scratched across their lone run of the night after Josh Powers delivered a two-out single into right before coming around to score on a dropped fly ball hit by Brody Armstrong to trim the lead to 3-1. 

Hathcock settled down and set down the Vikings in order to slam the door shut in the top of the seventh inning to secure the win.

At the plate for Cascade, Jordan Childress went 0-for-3 with an RBI, Wickey Parker went 1-for-2 with a walk and a home run, Jayden Hathcock was 1-for-3, and Xykaiah Dixon finished 1-for-3. Nicholas Mayhorn went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored, and Elijah Wesenberg finished 0-for-3 with an RBI.

For the Vikings, Josh Powers delivered the lone hit of the night, finishing 1-for-3 with a run scored. Armstrong finished 0-for-2 with an RBI.

Cascade and Community head to Unionville for game two of the series to close out the District 9-AA regular season on Tuesday with first-pitch set for 6:00 p.m.