Greenback’s Tyler Cullen fires a throw during the Cherokees’ elimination game win over Gordonsville on Wednesday (photo: Danny Parker)
MURFREESBORO – The Greenback High School boys’ baseball team pulled off the unthinkable Wednesday.
Not only did the Cherokees win two games in one day to stave off elimination from the Class A state tournament bracket, but they also avenged a 16-0 loss from Tuesday to 36-win Union City.
Greenback eliminated Union City, one of the tournament favorites, on Wednesday night by a 3-2 final.
Breeden Gilbert pitched the final 5 1/3 innings for Greenback, allowing just four hits and two earned runs. Tyler Cullen’s sacrifice fly in the seventh inning plated the game-winning run. He finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs against the Tornadoes (36-4).
Greenback (31-9) must beat Columbia Academy (29-9) twice on Thursday to advance to Friday’s Class A state championship at MTSU. This is Greenback’s second trip to the state tournament, having gone 0-for-2 in its two games last season.
CLASS AA
Greeneville 10, Forrest 8: The Greene Devils (26-11-1) have quietly placed themselves into a prime position to advance to the Class AA state championship. After wins over Smith County, 3-0, and Forrest, Greeneville must be beaten twice on Thursday by Forrest (24-16) to not reach their first state final.
Greeneville pounded out 10 runs on 13 hits to advance on Wednesday. Dalton McLain, the leadoff hitter, went 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Jacques Gillespie had a 2-for-4 day with three RBIs and three runs scored. He also started the game and threw 5 2/3 innings with two earned runs.
But Greeneville needed three runs in the top of the eighth to finally put away Forrest. RBI-doubles by Gillespie and Jordan Idell contributed to that.
SOCCER
Station Camp 3, Bearden 0: Station Camp, the defending state champion in Class AAA, used a 2-0 halftime lead to knock out Bearden (17-5-0) from state-title contention. Station Camp (21-2-1) will face Blackman (15-0-1) in the state title game Friday.
“I have to remind myself that 12, maybe 13, guys who played in that game today haven’t played in this before. That’s a lot to ask for a young group,” said Bearden coach Ryan Radcliffe. “But we were right there. I thought, the opening five or 10 minutes, we had however many chances to go up on them. I think that’s what Station Camp is good at. They take the chances they’re given.
“I think if we jumped on them early, it would have been a completely different game. But we allowed the defending state champions an extra lifeline.”