Alcoa poses with its Region 2-AA Championship on Wednesday. (Photo: @AlcoaBaseball on Twitter).
With one swift swing of Will Shelton’s bat Wednesday night, the Alcoa baseball team took a large step towards checking off one of its loftiest goals — reaching the state tournament.
Shelton’s home run in the first inning put the Tornadoes ahead 1-0, and they rode that momentum to an 8-2 win at Pigeon Forge in the Region 2-AA Championship.
The region title is the first Class AA region championship for the program, according head coach Steve Dunn.
“Well, with our program, we’ve really got some really good kids who have bought into what we are doing. We’ve kind of amp’d it up a little bit, as far as how we go about it,” said Dunn, who’s coached the Tornadoes for 16 years. “It’s one of those things where teams like Gibbs and Pigeon Forge were really tough for us to get through. And we kind of knew going in, we had a really good team.
“But, we went in there today and played really well defensively. We hit the ball really well. Will Shelton got us going with a home run early, and we kept it going. It’s a huge win for us, to say the least. … It was an amazing moment for our program and our kids.”
Will. The. Thrill. @willshelton45 With The TANK!! 💣🌪💥 pic.twitter.com/s9N0h1JsFg
— AHS Baseball (@AlcoaBaseball) May 15, 2019
Alcoa has made just one state-tournament appearance, and that came in 2004. But that season, it fell in the region title game to Seymour and then won at Unicoi County in the state sectionals to advance to state.
This time, Alcoa (33-5) will get to host a state sectional. They’ll take on Elizabethton (25-8) at 6 p.m. Friday for the right to move on to Murfreesboro. Elizabethton fell to defending state champion Greeneville, 8-6, in the Region 1-AA Championship on Wednesday.
Greeneville will play host to Pigeon Forge on Friday in the Class AA sectionals — just like they did a year ago. The Greene Devils won 4-2 against the Tigers in that matchup.
Greeneville (30-6) looks every bit as mighty as they were a season ago, so Pigeon Forge (26-7) will have its hands full as it tries to return to state for the first time since 2017.
The Tigers put themselves in this difficult position by not only giving up a homer to Shelton, the District 4-AA Player of the Year, but also by surrendering 10 other hits. Kaleb Cardwell had two doubles. Thai Love had three base hits, and Nick Roberts had a two-run single with two outs.
Kobe Robinson held it together on the mound, despite a few walks and hit batsmen. And his defensive counterparts siphoned a few rallies away from the Tigers with defensive gems.
And it’s all attributable to Shelton’s tone-setter — not just for this game, but for the season.
“The year he has put together for us on the mound and at the plate, his mindset is so incredibly strong. That mindset is kind of spilling over,” said Dunn.
“We’re getting that mindset of a championship-type team.”
Region 1-A, 2-A Baseball
Greenback knocked off University School of Johnson City by a 4-1 margin to set up a Class A state sectional Friday with Region 2-A runner-up Wartburg.
Harriman dropped Wartburg, 19-4, thanks to a grand slam by Titan Dayton. The Blue Devils claimed Region 2-A and will welcome University in the state sectionals. Harriman last reached the state tournament in 2010.
Greenback is seeking its third consecutive state tournament appearance, and Wartburg has never reached the state tournament.
In other baseball results: Loudon defeated Signal Mountain, 7-3, and will host Grundy County (16-15) in a Class AA state sectional. Loudon is looking for its first trip back to state since 2015.
- CAK and Webb will begin their respective best-of-three series in Division II-A on Thursday. CAK, the defending state champion in Division II-A, will play at Friendship Christian. Webb School of Knoxville will host Clarksville Academy.
SOFTBALL
CLASS AAA: Farragut will host Halls on Thursday night to decide the Region 2-AAA champion, as well as which team will get to host a state sectional Friday against Region 1-AAA runner-up Morristown East.
Jefferson County beat Morristown East, 5-3, on Wednesday to win Region 1-AAA, so the Lady Patriots will welcome the Farragut/Halls loser on Friday for a sectional game.
CLASS AA: Gibbs won Region 2-AA with ease on Tuesday, 12-1 over Alcoa, marking the program’s 30th region title. Breanna Bumgardner hit a homerun and had three RBIs in the win. The Lady Eagles will play Region 1-AA runner-up Grainger in the Class AA state sectionals. Grainger lost to Sullivan East, 4-3, on Wednesday in the Region 1-AA finale. Sullivan East will play host to Alcoa.
In other softball results: Sweetwater defeated Sequoyah, 16-12, to win its first region championship in program history. Sweetwater, which has made state tournament appearances in 2000, 2017 and 2018, had never accomplished that feat surprisingly. And its 21 wins this season is a program best, as well.
- In Division II, Grace Christian will open its best-of-three sectional series at Davidson Academy on Thursday. The King’s Academy began theirs Wednesday, dropping the first game to Battle Ground Academy, 7-1. The Lady Lions responded in Game 2 with a 10-5 victory, setting up the loser-goes-home game for Thursday.
- In Class A, Cosby lost to Unaka, 7-5, in the Region 1-A championship. Tellico Plains lost to Sale Creek, 5-2, in the Region 2-A final. Cosby will play at Sale Creek in the sectionals on Friday. Tellico Plains will travel to Unaka.