By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
CENTRE – Cherokee County High School baseball coach Josh Decker is always talking to his guys about creating momentum.
Junior center fielder Nate Black provided plenty of it on Friday night against Spring Garden in the Cherokee County Tournament championship game.
In a one-run game in the top of the fifth inning, the Panthers loaded the bases with one out. Ben Baker sent a fly ball to shallow center field, which was caught by a diving Black. He then fired a shot to catcher Aiden Bobbitt, who applied the tag on Eli Bates at the plate for an inning-ending double play.
For good measure, Black led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to right center. His blast led to a 10-run inning, which he capped with a towering walk-off two-run shot to left in the Warriors’ 11-0 victory.
The win secured the Warriors’ third straight Cherokee County baseball title.
“That was the most crucial part of the game,” Black said of his play in center field. “It flipped the side for us and gave us the energy we needed for that 10-run inning. It showed us it was possible (to win) if we didn’t give up. We were all ready to play.”
Decker said Black’s catch in center is “what set us up for that momentum.”
“The throw, the catch, the tag, it was all perfect,” Decker said. “We were able to capitalize on it, put some hits together, executed some bunts in big situations. It’s all stuff we’ve been working on, stuff we’ve been preaching, trying to create that spark to get us rolling in the right direction. I thought we did that tonight.”
Black’s catch led to a roller coaster of emotions for both teams.
“I went from bases loaded, one out, and I’m thinking ‘We’re fixing to win a county tournament,’” Panther head coach Kyle Garmon said. “Then it went to ‘holy crap, what just happened?’”
Black said he was a bit nervous at the plate leading off the bottom of the fifth after his catch and throw to the plate ended the top of the inning.
“You’ve got to live up to it,” he said. “The whole team’s going crazy. I’ve got a lot of emotions running through my head stepping into the box. I was just waiting on the pitch I was ready to see, and then I just hit it as far as I could.”
On his game-ending shot, Black said “I was just ready to swing my shoes off and make us go home.”
“That kid can swing a baseball bat,” Garmon said. “That last one he hit I think it hit the bus (parked in left field). That’s about as far as I’ve seen one hit in a while.”
Black led the Warriors (5-7) at the plate by going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Bobbitt and Evan Hill both went 2-for-3 with a double and a run. Bobbitt also had a RBI in the third to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. Owen Jacoway also provided a pair of hits, two runs, and two RBIs.
Case Hill collected a hit, a run, and two RBIs. Adam Griffith contributed a hit, a run, and a RBI. Wyatt Baker had a hit, a walk, and a run. Cayce Tittle finished with a hit and a run.
Sophomore pitcher Cam Mayo earned the win for the Warriors. He allowed just six hits, a walk, and struck out two on 48 pitches.
“We had gotten him just five runs up to this point, and we went out and got him 11 tonight,” Decker said. “That’s his fourth quality start. I can’t say enough about him throwing the baseball the way he is for us.”
As grateful as he was for Black’s homers, Mayo was also glad to see the Warrior offense do the “little things.”
“The home runs are good. They’re the big runs on there, but getting the little things done like the bunts and piecing hits together, they put you in that situation,” he said.
“We expect this. It’s the standard Coach Decker has in place. We’re going to go out and compete every time. When we compete, good things happen.”
Clayton Sadler led Spring Garden (6-6) with a double. He also suffered the loss after allowing nine earned runs on 12 hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
Zane Edwards contributed a hit and walk for the Panthers. Joel Hunter, Dawson Ellzey, Zack Scogin, and Bates each had a hit.
Decker said Friday’s county championship game is “as close to replicating a playoff series, an area series as you can get.”
“It’s huge for our guys,” he said. “It comes in a good spot for us during the season. It’s a good environment to get in here and compete, especially against Spring Garden. Our guys came out, stepped up to the plate, and did what they needed to do tonight.”
Cherokee County 15, Gaylesville 0 (3 innings)
CENTRE – The Warriors were thrown a bit of a curve ball on Friday prior to their opening-round county tournament game on Friday.
They were scheduled to play Cedar Bluff when the day began, but the Tigers forfeited their Thursday result with Gaylesville. It’s the second straight year Cedar Bluff has had to forfeit a game in the Cherokee County Tournament.
According to Tiger head coach Ross Johnson, Cedar Bluff had a pitcher who threw in Thursday’s Gaylesville game who also threw in the first game Tuesday of an area series against Sand Rock.
“We thought we had pulled him before he reached the 50-pitch threshold in the second inning. Unfortunately, we learned that was not the case,” Johnson said. “Once we realized the mistake we made, we made the decision to self report.
“I will own this, and make it a point to never let it happen again.”
The change in opponent didn’t bother the Warriors. They sent 17 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and scored 11 runs. They added four more in the third for the final.
“We knew coming in that we were going to play a baseball game at 4:30. It doesn’t matter who’s across from us. We’ve got to take care of us,” Decker said.
Daniel Neyman delivered a walk-off two-run double for the Warriors. Adam Griffith earned the win after tossing all three innings. He allowed just two hits, both to Hayden Dodd, and finished with six strikeouts.
