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Golden Eagles’ Offense Struggles in Opening Game of District Tournament Against Columbia

Noah Maddox
Posted 5/2/25

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (26-9, 7-3), the 2-seed in the District 9-AAAA Tournament, fell to the third-seeded Columbia Central Lions (17-11, 7-3), 4-1, on Thursday night at the Eagles’ Nest.

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Golden Eagles’ Offense Struggles in Opening Game of District Tournament Against Columbia

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SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (26-9, 7-3), the 2-seed in the District 9-AAAA Tournament, fell to the third-seeded Columbia Central Lions (17-11, 7-3), 4-1, on Thursday night at the Eagles’ Nest.

With the upset win, Columbia moves into pole position to advance to the District Championship Game, needing just one more win this weekend against either the Golden Eagles of Coffee County. For Shelbyville, they now need to win three-consecutive games on Friday and Saturday to keep their season alive and advance to the Region Tournament. 

Lane Sharp was dominant on the mound for Columbia, keeping the Golden Eagles’ offense off-balance all night long with his fastball topping out at 91 MPH with the ability to flip his 74-mph breaking-ball in the zone for strikes early in the count. Sharp threw a complete-game one-hitter while giving up zero earned runs, two walks, and striking out 10 batters on 95 pitches. 

“Give credit to Columbia and Sharpe all the credit in the world, he pitched his tail off, and they did what they had to do tonight to win,” SCHS’ Head Coach Chase Jones said postgame. 

Meanwhile, Stephen Bobo, who struck out 12 in his first outing against the Lions earlier this season, fought through 6.1 innings despite not looking like his usual self. When Bobo was forced to exit due to his pitch count, he had only given up a single run – a solo home run in the top of the first – on six hits, an uncharacteristic four walks, and six strikeouts on 117 pitches. 

“He [Stephen Bobo] just competes his tail off every time he’s on the mound,” Jones said about his sophomore lefty, “Every time you put him on the mound, if he has his great stuff he can be dominant and if he doesn’t have his great stuff he can still be dominant because he’s just such a great competitor. He definitely pitched well enough to win and I wish we could have helped him a little more offensively, but again, tip my hat to Sharp, he did what he had to do on the mound and he had his A game tonight.”

Columbia’s Kwan Sims put the first run of the game on the board in the top of the first inning, launching a one-out solo shot over the left-field wall to put the Lions in front, 1-0. Bobo stranded a pair of runners following Sims’ homer, and then stranded two more runners to end the second inning as well, keeping his offense down by just a single run.

Neither team scored again until the bottom of the fourth inning. After William Bobo was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, he was caught stealing at second before Caden Duggin struck out, bringing up Stephen Bobo with nobody on and two away. Bobo put the bat on a Sharp fastball, skying it down the left-field line and landing just barely fair for the Golden Eagles’ first and only hit of the game. Braxton Vari came on to run for the starting pitcher, and he immediately pressed the issue, stealing third base and forcing a high throw into left field from the catcher, allowing Vari to reach home and tie the game at 1-1.

Both pitchers settled in from that point forward until the top of the seventh. Bobo issued a one-out walk to Columbia leadoff hitter, Aiden Saum, for the second time. Bobo then seemed to have escaped Sims’ unscathed as Sims launched a routine fly-ball into right field, but Michael Estrada could not secure it in his glove for the second out of the inning.

Bobo was forced to exit just three pitches away from the maximum of 120, and Estrada came in from right to try and get the final two outs of the inning and give the Golden Eagles a chance to walk things off. This was pre-planned in the bottom of the sixth, but in an 0-1 count, an Estrada fastball caught too much of the plate. Jack Beck did not miss, hammering a soul-crushing 3-run home run out to center, putting Columbia ahead for good, 4-1, and effectively ending the game on that swing. 

“We knew coming into this game that it would come down to a bounce of the ball here and a play there. We told them at the end of the game, you’ve got two good teams with two really good pitchers on the mound, it’s going to come down to a play here or a play there,” said Jones, “I’m proud of the effort from our kids, proud of the way they came out and competed, but now, it’s backs against the wall. We’ve got to come out tomorrow and win two ballgames, and if we come out tomorrow with the mindset of trying not to lose, then we’re gonna lose. We’ve got to come out with the mindset that we’re fully expecting to win.”

“The good thing is, I feel like the makeup of our guys, I feel like we are built for this kind of moment; I feel like we have a pitching staff that’s deep enough that we can go through three games and have quality enough pitching to give ourselves a good chance to win those ballgames. It’s just a matter of going out and playing and trusting ourselves and staying in the moment to execute.”

Despite facing an uphill battle of three-consecutive must-win games over the impending two days, Jones thinks that the mindset and process his team has been through since before the season started will be the driving force behind a rally from the Golden Eagles.

“From the moment they first step in this program, we talk about staying in the moment and not worrying about what happened the pitch before and what might happen 2 or 3 pitches down the road, but staying in the moment,” Jones concluded. “This is where that is going to have to come to fruition. If we don’t do that, we are not going to advance. If our guys just come out and don’t worry about anything except locking in on each pitch, however many pitches that is over the course of a ballgame, then I don’t mind this position. I don’t feel any pressure and I hope the kids don’t feel the pressure.”

Shelbyville is scheduled to take on Coffee County at 4:00 p.m. on Friday with the winner set to take on Columbia Central immediately after at 7:00 p.m. William Bobo (6-2, 3.83 ERA) is scheduled to start against the Raiders.

SCHS Baseball, Columbia Central Baseball, Lane Sharp, Stephen Bobo, District 9-AAAA Tournament