Wildcat Baseball Punches Ticket to District Title Game
- Scott Shasteen
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Fresh off a pair of District 8-3A Tournament shutouts, the Tullahoma Wildcats will play the winner of this afternoon’s contest between Lawrence County and Central Magnet for the district championship tonight at 7 p.m. at Grider Stadium.
Tullahoma (26-9) beat Franklin County 2-0 and Central Magnet 12-0 on Sunday to advance to today’s championship round. The Wildcats will face the winner of the afternoon game and need only to beat them once to earn the title. Should the Wildcats lose tonight, there will be another game for the championship because the tournament is double elimination and Tullahoma hasn’t lost.
The battle against Franklin County was tougher than expected. Tullahoma starter Baylan Tuten (4-3) scattered three hits through five innings with eight strikeouts to keep the Rebels in check. The Wildcats scored both runs in the fourth inning.
Andrew Fulmer, the Co-MVP of the district, led off the fourth inning with a single. Mason Bratcher doubled Fulmer home with the lead run. With two outs, Phillip Lemmon singled, driving in Bratcher, and the Wildcats had all the runs they needed.
Ben Quick pitched the final two innings to earn his first save of the season, allowing one hit with one strikeout.
Game two saw Tullahoma score five runs in the first inning on their way to a five-inning mercy-rule victory. Bratcher (8-0), the district Pitcher of the Year, was unhittable through four innings. He allowed one baserunner, but picked him off first base in the second inning. Lucas Taylor-Rodriquez pitched the fifth inning for the Wildcats.
Tullahoma added four runs in the third inning and three more in the fourth for the final margin.
With yesterday’s two wins, the Wildcats earned a berth in this weekend’s Region 4-3A Tournament beginning Friday at the home of the District 7-3A tournament champion, likely the Upperman Bees.
The Region 4-3A champion will host the Region 3-3A runnerup on Wednesday, May 14, while the Region 4 runnerup will travel to the Region 3 champion on the same day.