By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

CEDAR BLUFF – Cedar Bluff senior pitcher Kuper Bradley said he hadn’t felt as good as he did on the mound like he did on Monday.

It was a good time for Bradley to have that good feeling.

The Tigers opened Class 2A, Area 13 baseball play against Sand Rock, and Bradley had the Wildcat hitters baffled. He held Sand Rock without a hit through 4 2/3 innings before allowing a single to Morgan Tucker in the fifth.

Bradley allowed just one other hit an inning later – a double by Bailey Martin – and finished with 13 strikeouts in an 8-0 complete game victory.

“About the third inning, I could tell it was going to be good. All of my pitches were working,” Bradley said. “I’ve never felt like that before, not even close.”

Cedar Bluff coach Ross Johnson said Bradley is “a talented kid who competes his tail off.”

“The things we’ve been preaching to our guys is to stick with it, have the right approach, not just at the plate but in the field too, and have the correct mindset. He’s one who’s really bought in, and I’m extremely proud of him,” Johnson said.

While Bradley was wowing on the mound, junior right fielder Sam Payne was doing the same at the plate. The Tigers’ nine-hole hitter went 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, a run, and a RBI.

“I like hitting ninth,” Payne said. “I get to see how the pitcher pitches to everybody else, so I have a little extra going into my at-bat.”

“He’s another kid who’s really bought in,” Johnson said. “He does things the right way.”

Payne and several other Tiger hitters gave Bradley plenty of run support. Cedar Bluff (4-6) scored a run in the bottom of the second, two more in third, three in the fourth, and two in the sixth for the final.

Kadien Tracy went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run, and a RBI. Bradley added a hit, a walk, and a run. Dylan McDaniel had a hit, walked twice, and scored twice. Bryson Teague walked twice, scored a run, and had two RBIs. Dallas Storey walked three times and had a single.

“We kind of started out the year slow with the bats. We’re still coming around,” Johnson said. “We’ve got basketball guys in here now with some swings under their belts, but something that we can play to our advantage is we’ve got some speed. It’s always good to put the ball in play because then you’ve got a chance.”

“We haven’t really played a good game until today,” Bradley said. “We didn’t mess up in the field much. We put the ball in play. We did really good.”

Isaiah Lewis and Nick Clanton both drew a walk for Sand Rock (1-9). Brycen Murphy and Ezra Robison were both hit by pitches.

The two teams are scheduled to finish their area series with a doubleheader on Tuesday at Sand Rock beginning at 4:30 p.m.