SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (10-5, 0-3) dropped game one of the District 9-AAAA series against Coffee County (14-5, 2-1) on Tuesday, 8-3. 

Trailing just 3-1 heading into the sixth inning, Shelbyville traded a pair of outs for a pair of Raiders’ runs, trailing 5-1 with just one out left. Up stepped leadoff man, Cole Pippenger, who launched a high fly ball into right field for what seemed to be the third and final out of the inning. However, Stephen Bobo somehow lost his footing right before the ball would have landed in his glove, allowing the ball to land safely, score another run for Coffee County, and keep the inning alive. Matt Moore lined a double to left to grow the lead to 7-1, followed by one more run for the Raiders to give the visitors a five-run lead, 8-3, to close the top of the seventh inning. 

Shelbyville got two runs back with their final three outs, but the damage was done, and the Raiders handed the Golden Eagles their third consecutive loss to open district play.

In the top of the third, with Coffee County already ahead 1-0, William Bobo worked around runners on second and third with nobody out to get out of the inning unscathed. Aided by an incredible catch from Caden Duggan in left field, Bobo kept the lead at just one run for his offense after freezing Blake Hillis for a punchout before inducing a groundout to short from Landan Abellana to end the inning.

Brody Lovvorn, swapping with Stephen Bobo in the order and batting third, grounded a two-out chopper back up the middle for a base hit in the home half of the third inning, but Pippenger got Bobo to ground out to end the threat. 

On the night, the Raiders’ ace went 6.0 innings, giving up just one earned run on seven hits and three walks to go with six strikeouts on 102 pitches. Leiton Yancer came on in relief to get the final three outs, but not before giving up two earned runs on three hits and one walk on 22 pitches. 

For the Golden Eagles, William Bobo pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five runs – four earned – on six hits and two walks while striking out seven batters on 91 pitches. Ashton Whorley came on in relief, throwing the final 1.2 innings and giving up three unearned runs on two hits and four walks while tallying a pair of strikeouts on 55 pitches. 

After Bobo posted another zero in the top of the fourth, Caden Peacock led off the home half with a double followed by Palmer Edwards’ seeing-eye single through the six-hole to move Peacock to third. After a wild pitch from Pippenger to Brody Thomas allowed Edwards to advance to second, the Golden Eagles had runners on second and third with nobody out. However, eerily similar to how Bobo worked around the exact same jam in the previous inning, both Thomas and Reager Edwards struck out looking before Pippenger induced a foul pop-out from Michael Estrada to negate the threat and end the inning. 

In the top of the fifth, nine-hole hitter Trevor Jesse worked a leadoff walk, bringing up Pippenger, who hit a high fly-ball to right field. Estrada, who started the game in right field with William Bobo on the mound, immediately lost the ball in the lights, allowing Jesse to score followed by Pippenger as the ball rolled all the way to the wall, increasing Coffee County’s lead to 3-0. Pippenger finished 3-4 at the plate with a triple, a double, and a walk along with one RBI. 

Shelbyville finally put a run on the board in the home half of the fifth. William Bobo led things off with a double into right field followed by Duggan punching a single over the head of the second baseman, Grayson Sadler, putting runners on first and third with nobody out. Lovvorn reached safely on a fielder's choice grounder to short, scoring Bobo to cut the lead to 3-1. After Lovvorn stole second, Coffee County intentionally walked Stephen Bobo for the second time, bringing up Peacock with two on and one out. After a double steal got both runners into scoring position in a 2-1 count, Peacock worked a walk to load the bases to bring up Palmer Edwards. 

Unfortunately for the hosts, Edwards’ one-hopper was stabbed by Pippenger, who threw to the plate to get the force out, and then Pippenger struck out Thomas to leave the bases loaded and preserve the two-run lead. 

In the top of the sixth, Coffee County knocked Bobo from the game after a leadoff double from Abellana and getting runners on first and third with one out. Whorley came in, and then the Raiders laid down a pair of bunts to score two more runs and grow the lead to 5-1. Sadler reached safely on the first attempt and drove home Abellana before a sacrifice-bunt RBI from Jesse. Then Bobo slipped in right field, keeping the inning alive and eventually allowing a total of three more runs to come across in the inning. 

Shelbyville pushed across two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but it was not enough to overcome the seven-run deficit, and Coffee County held on to win game one, 8-3. 

William Bobo finished 2-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles while Palmer Edwards also went 2-4 with one RBI to combine for four of the ten total hits tallied by the Golden Eagles on the night. 

Game two will be in Manchester on Wednesday night with first pitch scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Stephen Bobo is slated to start for Shelbyville.