SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – In the program’s first home sectional game in more than 30 years, the Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (30-9, 5-3) picked up their 30th win of the season with a 5-4 win over Hendersonville (24-18, 6-2) in an 11 inning marathon on Thursday night.

“Give the boys credit, they found a way to hang in there and get the win,” a relieved Shelbyville Central Head Coach Chase Jones said postgame, “We threw Kaleb [Maillet], and then when we brought Stephen [Bobo] in, we were rolling the dice. We wanted to wait to get the lead to bring him in, but this became a must-win. If we hadn’t found a way to win this one, we were going to be in serious trouble. Give Hendersonville credit, they play hard, they’re scrappy, and Friday is going to be a battle. I told the kids before the game that y’all deserve to be in Murfreesboro, but you have to go out and take it. We have to find a way to win one ballgame.”

After leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, the Golden Eagles loaded the bases again in the bottom of the 11th. Stephen Bobo, who had roped a game-tying one-out RBI-triple in the seventh before being stranded, came up to the plate with just one out and a golden opportunity to walk off the Commandos. Instead, Ashton Whorley was picked off at third base, allowing Hendersonville to intentionally walk the Golden Eagles’ superstar to bring up Blake Bone. However, Bone hustled out a chopper to short resulting in an infield RBI-single to score the winning run from third.

“We were right where we want to be with Stephen up and the bases loaded, but the big picture is I’m just proud of our boys for finding a way to win a very tough ballgame.”

Kaleb Maillet got the start for the Golden Eagles, pitching the first 6.0+ innings and giving up four earned runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts on 100 pitches. Cameron Burke came on in relief for the seventh, getting the Golden Eagles to the home half without conceding anymore runs. Burke walked two batters and struck one out with no hits allowed on 15 pitches. Finally, Bobo pitched the last 4.0 innings to pick up the win, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out six batters. 

The Golden Eagles tagged Hendersonville starter, Jakob Murphy, with a Caden Peacock 2-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, but not before Stephen Bobo was picked off at second base. That run would loom large for the vast majority of the game. 

Nonetheless, Hendersonville would draw level in the top of the fourth by plating a pair of runs. A single from Houston Bogle, a single from Tyler Johns, and a walk to Nate Lunger loaded the bases for the Commandos with just one out. Bogle came home to score on a wild pitch, and then Keane Gugenheim singled home Johns to tie the game at 2-2.

After Murphy put up a zero in the home half, the Commandos would take their first lead of the night on a one-out RBI-single from Murphy himself. Shelbyville Central came back to tie things up at 3-3 in the sixth on a two-out RBI-single from Elijah Westbrooks, but in the top of the seventh, Joe Mosley launched a go-ahead leadoff home run to right field to go up 4-3.

However, the Golden Eagles were unkillable in the bottom of the seventh. Braxton Vari led off with a single to right, and then Stephen Bobo delivered a clutch one-out RBI-triple to tie the game at 4-4. After Shelbyville Central left the bases loaded, neither team would score again until Bone’s game-winning RBI-single.

At the plate for Shelbyville Central, Bobo led off going 2-for-5 with an RBI, a walk, and a triple. Bone went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a walk, Peacock was 1-for-4 with a walk and a 2-RBI home run, and Case Davis finished 1-for-4 with a double. Brody Thomas was 1-for-5, Westbrooks went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Ashton Whorley was 1-for-4, Braxton Vari went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, and Miles McCullough came through with a clutch 11th-inning single to finish 1-for-4.

Shelbyville Central hosts Hendersonville for Game Two at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. If necessary, Game Three will be held on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m.