MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Cascade put together a five-spot in the top of the second, three combined pitchers gave up just four hits, and the Champions (25-7, 5-3) opened the 2026 Class AA State Tournament with an impressive 7-2 win over Westview (21-10, 8-0) on Tuesday night at Riverdale.

“On this stage, getting any kind of win is huge, especially this first one,” Cascade Head Coach Travis Sheffield said postgame, “You really want to win those first two games and be in the driver’s seat, but you have to win the first one to get two.”

Jayden Hathcock got the start on the mound for Cascade, pitching 4.0 innings and giving up just his second and third earned runs all season on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts on 72 pitches. Westview’s Thomas Myers hit the first home run allowed all season by the Champions’ Mr. Baseball finalist to score both runs.

“[Jayden] Hathcock goes out and does what he does outside of one pitch, he’s just that guy,” said Sheffield.

After a scoreless first inning, Cascade put up a crooked number in the top of the second, taking a 5-0 lead thanks to some small ball. First, Thomas Demartelaere worked a leadoff walk before River Maddox sacrifice-bunted the runner into scoring position. Elijah Wesenberg reached safely via an error by the Chargers’ third baseman before Daymien Maldonado’s sacrifice-bunt also resulted in an E5 to load the bases with just one out. This also flipped the lineup over for Jordan Childress, and the Cascade shortstop roped a double on the fourth pitch he saw down the left-field line for a 2-RBI double and a 2-0 lead.

Caleb Crouch struck out, but then Wickey Parker singled home two more runs on a ground ball into right field for a 4-0 lead before Hathcock drove home Parker with an RBI-single of his own.

“For that five-spot, we played small-ball,” Sheffield said, “We played small-ball, and then it turned into an explosion, and that’s kind of how it’s been in games where we’ve gotten crooked numbers. Someone just has to be the catalyst and do the little things, and tonight it was Daymien [Maldonado]. He got that drag bunt down, and he turns that lineup over. He’s huge down there [in the No. 9 spot in the order] whether he’s bunting or whether he’s taking a lot of pitches and walking to flip things over. Then, Jordo [Jordan Childress] comes up with a base hit down the line. We couldn’t have drawn that sequence up any more perfect.”

To the Chargers’ credit, Myers’ 2-run home run came in the home half of the third on a wall-scraper in left to trim the lead to 5-2. However, Hathcock settled down to limit the damage before coming out and positing another zero in the bottom of the fourth. 

Parker came on in relief for the Champs’ ace, pitching the next 1.2 innings and striking out one while walking one on 25 pitches. In a 1-2 count but wanting to preserve Parker’s bullets for later in the week, Sheffield brought on Jayce Cagle to get the final four outs. Cagle did just that, giving up no runs and no hits with two strikeouts on 16 pitches to secure the win.

“They throw strikes,” Sheffield said about his pitching staff, “First and foremost, in high school baseball, you’ve got to attack the strike zone. Beyond that, we didn’t have a single error. Our defense is something I feel like teams overlook. It’s easy as a pitcher to get up on that mound and have confidence when you know that those guys behind you have your back. The defense does the little things right.”

Meanwhile, while continuing to dominate on the mound, Cascade tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the sixth. Elijah Wesenberg led off with a single into left, Maldonado sac-bunted him into scoring position, and then Childress once again delivered with an RBI-double. Parker drove home Childress with a one-out RBI-single into right to take the 7-2 advantage that Cascade would not relinquish.

At the plate for the Champs, Childress led off going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, Parker went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and Hathcock finished 1-for-4 with one RBI. Xykaiah Dixon was 1-for-3 with a walk, Maddox went 1-for-3, and Wesenberg finished 1-for-2 with a HBP.

With the win, the Champions advance into the 1-0 game and will take on White House Heritage on Wednesday afternoon, weather permitting, at 12:30 p.m. at Riverdale.