SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (6-2) capped off the Rebel Classic with a pair of wins over Chapel Hill (6-6), 4-3, on Friday and the Smyrna Bulldogs (13-3), 13-3, on Saturday.

 After suffering their second loss of the season against Cookeville on Thursday, Shelbyville came out and put a trio of runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning despite not tallying a single hit. Rockets’ starter, Houston Matlock, went the complete 6.0 innings, pitching a no-hitter despite giving up four runs with three earned on six walks and two HBP despite seven strikeouts on 94 pitches, taking the loss. 

Meanwhile, Golden Eagles’ starter, Brody Lovvorn, matched Matlock by throwing 6.0 innings, giving up three runs with only one earned on six hits and a pair of walks while tallying six strikeouts on 88 pitches to pick up the win. William Bobo came on in the seventh to shut the door, recording all three outs on just five pitches to earn the save.

William Bobo and Caden Duggan opened up the home half of the first inning with a pair of HBP, and after a double steal to advance to second and third, Stephen Bobo worked a walk. All three runners ended up touching home plate despite the lineup not recording an official hit, giving Shelbyville a commanding 3-0 lead. 

The Golden Eagles tacked on one more run in the bottom of the third after Stephen Bobo worked his second walk and then eventually came around to score. In all, Shelbyville stranded just four runners on base as a team and committed three errors while the Rockets committed just one. Caden Peacock and Palmer Edwards each recorded one RBI with Edwards’ coming on a sacrifice. Stephen Bobo and Reager Edwards led SCHS by drawing two walks apiece against Matlock.

Chapel Hill eventually responded with a three-run fifth inning, but two of the runs were aided by errors in the field by the Golden Eagles’ defense. The Rockets’ top three hitters in the batting order – Tyler Baxter, Branham Haynes, and Matthew Morgan – all singled to reach base and came around to score. Morgan recorded the first RBI, driving home Baxter to get Chapel Hill on the board before Luke Allen tallied his second hit of the night to officially tally his first RBI of the night. Due to the fielding error, the Rockets were able to scratch across three runs to cut the lead to 4-3. 

However, Lovvorn responded in the sixth, coming back out to post a zero, followed by Bobo’s five-pitch save in the seventh to slam the door shut on the Rockets’ comeback attempt.

On Saturday against Smyrna, Shelbyville’s bats more than made up for getting no-hit on Friday night, recording 11 base hits en route to 13 runs scored in a 13-3 win after five innings.

Lefty hurler Ashton Whorley got the start on the mound for the Golden Eagles, throwing 3.0 innings of one-run ball on six hits and three strikeouts on 43 pitches. Michael Estrada recorded the final six outs in relief, giving up just two unearned runs on a pair of hits with a strikeout on 35 pitches.

Shelbyville teed off early and often against Smyrna starter, Julian Lyons, pushing across seven of their first eight runs against Lyons and knocking him from the game before he could get the third out in the second inning. Lyons threw just 1.2 innings, giving up seven earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out just one batter on 44 pitches. He also gave up a home run to Stephen Bobo.

Smyrna actually took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first against Whorley after William Drayton drove home Chance Mosley following Mosley’s leadoff double. 

However, in the home half, Shelbyville was able to scratch across a trio of runs to take a 3-1 lead going into the second. After Whorley posted a quick zero, the Golden Eagles scored five more runs in the second, chasing Lyons from the game. Shelbyville scored two more in the third, one more in the fourth after Smyrna had gotten two runs back against Estrada in the top half, and finally were able to walk things off in the bottom of the fifth inning by scoring two more runs to increase the final score to 13-3, triggering the 10-run run-rule.

William Bobo went 1-2 at the plate with a walk and a pair of runs scored while stealing three bases and getting hit by a pitch. Caden Duggin followed him up with a 2-4 performance with 3 RBI and a pair of runs scored. Stephen Bobo went a perfect 3-3 at the plate with 3 RBI, a home run, a walk, and a trio of runs scored while swiping a bag. Caden Peacock went 1-3, Whorley went 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI, Braxton Vari went 1-3, and Estrada finished 1-2 with a walk. 

In all, Shelbyville left just three runners on base as they improved to 6-2 overall with district play opening on Monday night at Lincoln County with first pitch slated for 6:00 p.m. William Bobo is the projected starter for Shelbyville.