SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – Kaleb Maillet threw a complete-game shutout, Caden Peacock launched a 2-run home run, and the Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (16-4, 4-2) completed a massive District 6-AAAA series sweep over Coffee County (13-9, 2-4) in a 2-0 win on Tuesday night.

Early on, it didn’t look like Maillet was on track to even reach the sixth inning, but he settled down in the middle innings to earn the win. The Golden Eagles’ starter threw 115 pitches, giving up just five hits with zero walks and seven strikeouts.

“When Kaleb [Maillet] is on the mound, he gives us confidence because you know he’s going to pound the zone, and you know he’s going to compete,” Shelbyville Central Head Coach Chase Jones said, “He came out and pitched well early, but we got behind in some counts, their guys battled, and we had a 20+ pitch inning the first three innings. He just kept pounding the strike zone, and in the later innings we had a 10-pitch inning, a 13-pitch inning, and he was able to keep his pitch count down. It’s great when you have a guy who can go seven innings and shut the door. He pitched his tail off.”

In a game that saw the two starters go the distance, Coffee County’s Leighton Yancer pitched well enough to give his team a chance late. Yancer threw all 6.0 innings, giving up two earned runs on seven hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. However, his one critical error came in the second inning. After hitting Brody Thomas to put a runner on base, Caden Peacock took the Red Raiders’ starter deep for a 2-run home run to give the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Coincidentally, this was the second home run of the season for a catcher who wears jersey No. 2. 

“Peacock had a big bomb for us,” Jones said, “We’ve talked about how his biggest role for us is what he does behind the plate, and he is phenomenal. He’s the best catcher behind the plate that I’ve had in 29 years coaching, and everything he does at the plate is extra for us. He kind of struggled offensively early in the season, but he’s made some adjustments and started to get some confidence, and he was huge this series.”

Shelbyville Central stranded seven runners on base, but luckily for the hosts, Maillet was dominant, and stranded six Red Raiders on the basepaths himself. 

This series sweep propels the Golden Eagles out of the dreaded play-in game for the District 6-AAAA tournament and into the No. 3 seed behind Cookeville and Lincoln County. Shelbyville Central owns the tiebreaker over both Coffee County and Warren County.

At the plate for the hosts, Miles McCullough led off going 1-for-3 with a double, Stephen Bobo went 1-for-2 and was hit by a pitch, and Case Davis finished 1-for-3. Brody Thomas was 1-for-2 with a double and a HBP, Caden Peacock went 1-for-2 with a pair of RBIs on his home run and a walk, and Elijah Westbrooks finished 2-for-2. 

Shelbyville Central hosts Sequatchie County on Thursday before taking on rival Tullahoma in a two-game non-district series on Monday and Tuesday.