BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions (5-3, 0-2) outhit Chapel Hill (8-6, 2-0) on Tuesday night, 11-8, but Rockets’ pitching was able to wiggle their way out of multiple jams to hold on to the game two win, 7-4, to wrap up a District 9-AA series sweep. 

Trailing by four runs, 7-3, entering the bottom of the seventh inning, Cascade loaded the bases with one out after slapping three consecutive singles. Following a strikeout, Jayden Hathcock worked a two-out walk to drive home a run, but Reid Gentry, who picked up the final two outs to close out game one, induced an inning-ending groundout to second from Caleb Crouch to secure the hard-fought district win. 

Luke Allen got the start on the mound for Chapel Hill, throwing 6.1 innings before making way for Reid in the seventh inning. Allen was tallied giving up four earned runs on 10 hits and a walk while striking out nine batters on an astounding 112 pitches. 

For Cascade, Isaac Winton went 5.0 innings to start on the mound, giving up six runs on six hits and four walks while tallying four strikeouts on 79 pitches. Elijah Wesenberg came on in relief, recording the last six outs while just giving up a single run on two hits and three walks with one strikeout on 41 pitches.

Isaac Winton (19) got his first start of the season in game two against Chapel Hill, going 5.0 innings and striking out four batters.

David Smith

Neither team scored in the first two innings despite Cascade loading the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the second inning. Allen struck out the next two batters before inducing an inning-ending groundout to escape the jam. 

Chapel Hill responded to the scare with a four-run third inning, starting with a Kason Fuller 2-RBI double followed by a 2-RBI single by Allen put the Rockets on top, 4-0, all with no outs. Winton then settled down enough to record three consecutive outs to end the inning and keep the Champs in it.

Cascade led off the home half of the third inning with a pair of singles from the top of the order in Jordan Childress and Xyakaiah Dixon. Childress went 3-4 at the plate, improving his batting average on the season to .480. Not to be outdone, Dixon raised his average to .417 after going 3-4 at the plate as well. 

Xyakaiah Dixon (5) put together another strong performance at the plate, finishing 3-4 in Tuesday's loss to the Rockets.

David Smith

Thomas Demartelaere was able to get the hosts on the scoreboard with a one-out RBI double, followed by Jayden Hathcock driving home Dixon on an RBI-groundout to cut the lead to 4-2 while also advancing Elijah Wesenberg – courtesy running for the catcher Demartelaere – to third base. This allowed Caleb Crouch to drive the second pitch he saw from Allen into left field and allow Wesenberg to trot home for Cascade’s third and final run of the inning, trimming the Rockets’ lead to 4-3.

Neither team scored in the fourth, but then Chapel Hill pushed across a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning, extending their lead to 6-3. Aided by a Winton balk after leadoff man Tyler Baxter singled and stole second, Branham Haynes took advantage. Haynes grounded out to short, but it was enough to drive home the run. Matthew Morgan then roped an RBI single into center for the final run of the inning.

Allen came back out on the mound to record a 1-2-3 inning on 10 pitches, and then the Rockets tacked on an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning. Kason Fuller recorded an RBI single on what should have been a routine fly ball to right field, but after Wickey Parker was unable to get to it before the ball touched the ground, Chapel Hill took advantage of the mistake to grow the lead to four runs, 7-3.

Cascade went scoreless in the sixth, stranding Jaxson Milliken on second following his two-out double. In the top of the seventh, Wesenberg wiggled his way out of a bases-loaded jam to give his offense one final shot. 

Down to their final three outs, Daymian Maldonado, the nine-hole hitter, led things off for Cascade. Maldonado worked a full count, but on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Allen froze the freshman with a fastball on the inside corner to record his ninth strikeout of the night. 

The Champs’ lineup then flipped over, and Childress promptly roped a one-out single down the left-field line.

Jordan Childress (1) heads home on Thomas Demartelaere's third-inning RBI double to score Cascade's first run of the game. Childress, batting leadoff for the Champions, went 3-4 at the plate with a pair of runs scored.

David Smith

Dixon followed that up with a single of his own to left on Allen’s 112th pitch, prompting a pitching change from the Rockets. Chapel Hill brought in Reid Gentry to try and nail down the final two outs for the second consecutive night. River Maddox, who came in for Parker in right field to start the seventh inning, worked the count to 3-1 and lined Cascade’s third consecutive single into center to load the bases with just one out, bringing the tying run to the plate.

Gentry was able to strike out Demartelaere on six pitches for the second out, bringing Jayden Hathcock, who recorded the lone run in game one on a solo homer, to the plate. Hathcock worked a six-pitch walk to bring home Childress to get one run back, but then Caleb Crouch grounded out to second base for the final out of the night as the Rockets completed the series sweep with a hard-fought win, 7-4.

Cascade is scheduled to play four games across two days in the Viking Classic on Friday and Saturday before traveling to take on Huntland on Monday in game one of a two-game non-district series. The Champions will host Newton Falls (OH) at 1:00 p.m. to open the Classic on Friday before playing Sequatchie at 7:00 p.m. in the nightcap.