Defending Champ Tullahoma Hosts Sectional Round

In two games, Tullahoma pitchers allowed just one run and six hits as the Wildcats won their

second consecutive Region 4-3A Tournament championship with two wins at Upperman High

School in Baxter this weekend.

Tullahoma (28-10) advances to the sectional round and will host Soddy Daisy in a best two-out-of-three series beginning Wednesday at Grider Stadium. All Wildcat tournament games can be heard on 93.9 The Duck. The sectional winner will be one of eight teams that advance to the TSSAA State Tournament. THS is the defending state champion.

The Wildcats came from behind Friday night to beat District 7-3A champion Upperman 2-1. OnSaturday, Tullahoma got revenge for its District 8 tournament loss by pounding Lawrence

County 10-0. Friday’s tournament opener was a pitcher’s duel, with Tullahoma’s Lucas Taylor-Rodriquez (2-

1) besting Lawrence County’s Julian Llano. Taylor-Rodriquez was shaky early, walking the first

batter and hitting the second. An error and a walk led to a Lawrence County run. It was the only run Tullahoma pitchers would allow and was unearned without a hit.

The Wildcat junior pitcher worked his way out of jams in the second and third innings, but after that, he was lights out and tossed the complete game. The offense did all it needed to do in the fifth inning. Andrew Zebick led off with a single, followed by a Park Fulks single. With two outs and two strikes, Hunter Hogan slammed a double to score Zebick and courtesy runner Nate Wilkerson.

Taylor-Rodriquez faced the minimum of 12 batters over the final four innings, with a double playending the sixth inning. Shortstop Andrew Fulmer and second baseman Trevor Cole were

flawless in the field.

In Friday’s other contest, Lawrence County beat Stone Memorial 9-5. Upperman and Stone

Memorial played Saturday to determine who would play Lawrence County for second place in

the region and a road trip for the sectional round. The scores were unavailable at publication

time.

Senior southpaw Baylan Tuten was even better on the mound for Tullahoma Saturday, with a

first-inning double play setting the tone. Tuten (5-3) pitched six innings and allowed just two hits with six strikeouts and no walks. Andrew Fulmer pitched the seventh.

Lawrence County’s sloppy defense aided Tullahoma greatly, with the purple and white Wildcats committing seven errors. Tuten started things offensively with a third-inning single, followed by a Phillip Lemon single. After J.D. Schmisseur walked, Zebick drove in Tuten with a single.

Sacrifice flies by Fulks and Bryson Campbell staked the Wildcats to a 3-0 lead. Tullahoma added two runs in the fifth. Lemon led off with a double, and Zebick reached on the

first of three Lawrence County errors in the inning. Fulks helped things along with a single, and

the Wildcats led 5-0 after six innings.

Fulmer, Schmisseur, and Trevor Cole hit singles in the seventh, while three batters walked and

Lawrence County committed three more errors.

The Wildcats stayed in position to defend their 2024 state championship with the win.