SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (8-1, 1-0) opened up District 6-AAAA play in style against Warren County (9-1, 0-1) in a 19-2 win after five innings on Monday. 

The hosts tallied 13 hits and drew six walks, and got a good performance from Kaleb Maillet on the mound. Maillet threw all 5.0 innings, giving up just two earned runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts on 84 pitches.
Meanwhile, the Pioneers were forced to use six pitchers to get 15 outs after starter Lealon Arnold was knocked from the game after getting just a single out in the first inning.

Warren County took an early lead on a solo home run to right field from Ryder Gillespie in the top of the first inning, but the Golden Eagles quickly responded with five runs in the home half. 

Miles McCullough led off with a double to right field, then Blake Bone brought him home with an RBI-double down the right-field line to tie the game at 1-1. Case Davis drove Bone home with an RBI-double into center, and then Brody Thomas reached safely with a hit of his own to prompt a mound visit. This gave time for Caden Peacock to figure out his plan of attack, and in doing so launched a towering 3-run home run to left-center field to grow the lead to 5-1. 

After Maillet got through the top of the second unscathed, the Golden Eagles came back up to the plate ready to do more damage. Bone was hit by a pitch to lead things off, then Elijah Westbrooks worked a walk. A wild pitch from reliever Miguel Garcia allowed both runners to advance before Davis again delivered with runners in scoring position, slapping a 2-RBI single past the second baseman. Brody Thomas followed up with a double to again put runners on second and third, prompting another pitching change for the Pioneers.

Changing pitchers did little to slow down Shelbyville Central, as Seth Barrett’s first pitch hit Peacock to load the bases for Ashton Whorley. Whorley worked a walk to bring home a run, then Chase Billig walked, and finally Vari was hit by a pitch. With the bases still loaded, Barrett’s wild pitch scored another run, and then Blake Bone delivered an RBI-single. Westbrooks walked, then Davis delivered an RBI single. After another walk and a Whorley RBI, the dust finally settled, and the Golden Eagles had scored 13 runs in a single frame to take an 18-1 lead heading into the top of the third. 

Maillet pitched another pair of scoreless innings as the Golden Eagles tacked on one more run in the bottom of the third. Warren County got one run back in the top of the fifth, but it was not enough to stave off the inevitable run-rule trigger for the hosts.

At the plate for Shelbyville Central, Miles McCullough went 2-for-3 with one RBI, a double, and a walk, Bone went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a double, and Westbrooks went 0-for-1 with an RBI and two walks. Case Davis finished a perfect 4-for-4 with a double and four RBIs, Brody Thomas batted 1-for-2 with a walk, an RBI, and a double, and Caden Peacock finished 1-for-2 with four RBIs after tallying his first round-tripper of the season. Whorley went 2-for-2 with a double and three RBIs, and Billig batted 1-for-2 with one RBI and a walk.

Shelbyville Central looks to complete the series sweep on Tuesday at Warren County with first-pitch set for 6:00 p.m.