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Wildcats must win on the road to reach Blue Cross Spring Fling

Perhaps the fourth time is the charm?

Although it is unconventional, the Tullahoma Wildcats can only hope its true as they will play on the road in the baseball sectional game for the fourth consecutive year when they travel to Cookeville Friday night to take on the Cavaliers.

Tullahoma (32-7) dropped a difficult 2-1 decision to Riverdale (26-11) Wednesday night in the Region 4-AAA finals, while Cookeville went on the road and beat Ooltewah 11-9. Ooltewah will travel to Riverdale on Friday.

The Wildcats fell to Coffee County 3-2 in the sectional finals in 2010, then 7-6 to Soddy-Daisy in 2011, and finally 1-0 to Walker Valley last year.

The Cats had set their sights all season on hosting the sectional game, but a shuffled lineup and an outstanding pitching performance by Riverdale’s Barry Puckett forced Tullahoma to once again take to the road to reach the state tournament.

Puckett allowed only one hit, a fifth inning single by Zane Price that drove in the Wildcats’ only run. Riverdale handed Justin Brown the loss, scoring once in the second inning and once in the fifth, with the second on a solo home run.

Michael Shipp relieved Brown in the fifth and gave up only one hit the rest of the way. Brown only allowed four hits in his 4.2 innings.

Cookeville (31-1-1) led Ooltewah 7-2, then fell behind 8-7, before regaining the lead and earning the home field on Friday. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the broadcast will be live on the Tullahoma Sports Network – 105.1 FM, Tullahomaradio.com, TuneIn Radio app and LightTUBe channel 11.

Wildcats win and advance, Lady Cats fall

The Tullahoma Wildcats overcame a 2-0 deficit with two runs in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth to beat Oakland 4-2 Monday night at Grider Stadium.

With the victory Tullahoma (33-6) advances to the Region 4-AAA finals against Riverdale in Murfreesboro Wednesday night. The win also assures the Cats of their fourth consecutive appearance in the sectional round, to be played Friday. Both Wednesday’s and Friday’s games will be broadcast live on the Tullahoma Sports Network.

The Lady Cats softball team completed their season with a 6-0 loss to Smyrna in the region tournament opening round.

Oakland scores single runs off Tullahoma starter Justus Sheffield (9-1) in the first and fourth innings to lead 2-0. The Cats then took advantage of a hit batter and a walk, followed by a two-run single by Tyler Burns, to tie the score at 2-2 after four innings.

With two outs in the sixth inning, Trey Burks reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second and third base. He scored the go-ahead run and Zach Lampkin scored an insurance run.

Sheffield scattered five hits and struck out 13 Patriot batters while allowing only one earned run.

Monday is big for Tullahoma baseball, softball

Both the Tullahoma Wildcats baseball and Lady Cats softball teams will play Region 4-AAA tournament games on Monday, with a win assuring each at least two more games and a legitimate shot at a Blue Cross Spring Fling spot.

The Wildcats (32-6) host Oakland (26-13) at Grider Stadium Monday night at 6:30 p.m. A win for the Cats and a Columbia win over Riverdale would give Tullahoma at least one more home game and perhaps two. If the Wildcats and Warriors win, then Tullahoma would travel to Riverdale on Wednesday.

The Lady Cats (18-25) are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start Monday in Smyrna against the Lady Bulldogs (32-10). With a win the Lady Cats will travel on Wednesday to the winner of the Columbia/Riverdale contest.

On Tuesday the Wildcat soccer team will play at LaVergne in the region opener. If the Wildcats can get a win and Smyrna beats Columbia, then Tullahoma would host the region finals on Thursday.

Listen live to Wildcat baseball Monday night on the Tullahoma Sports Network – 105.1 FM, Tullahomaradio.com, LightTUBe 11 and the TuneIn Radio app.

Lady Cats shut out Lincoln County, earn region softball berth

Dani Kirkpatrick pitched a shutout to lead the Lady Cats to the region tournament. Tim Lampkin photo.

In his first year as head softball coach at Tullahoma, Gary Barfield scheduled multiple tournaments for his young team. He knew they might take their lumps at times, but he also knew it would prepare them for postseason play. It did and they responded.

The Lady Cats won three games in four days, played for the District 8-AAA championship, and earned a berth in the Region 4-AAA tournament when they beat Lincoln County 2-0 Saturday afternoon at Lady Cats Field in Tullahoma.

The win earned them a shot at Shelbyville, who had beaten Lincoln County 17-2 in the winner’s bracket final Friday night, for the district title. Tullahoma led 5-3 heading into the fifth inning, but the Eaglettes came from behind and won the championship 7-5 in Saturday’s second contest.

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Lady Cats win in 9th; face Lincoln County Friday

The Tullahoma Lady Cats rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Lawrence County 5-4 and advance to the elimination bracket finals of the District 8-AAA softball tournament at Lady Cats Field Thursday night.

Tullahoma will face Lincoln County on Friday at 6 p.m. for a spot in the tournament championship game and a berth in the Region 4-AAA tournament. The Lady Falcons got hammered 17-2 by Shelbyville Thursday, and the Lady Cats-Lincoln County winner will play Shelbyville at 5 p.m. on Saturday for the district title. All games are at Lady Cats Field behind East Middle School, and all Tullahoma games can be heard on the Tullahoma Sports Network.

Megan Grenier hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Lady Cats a 2-1 lead. Lawrence County scored twice in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead, but Tullahoma scored again in the bottom of the inning to even the score.

Lawrence County scored in the top of the ninth, but Tullahoma just wouldn’t be beat as Kirsten White scored the game winner when Alyssia Bowen reached on an error. Lauren Hasty went the distance for the Lady Cats and got the win on the mound.

Butaud walk-off wins district title for Wildcats

Alex Butaud’s walk-off hit clinches district title. Photo ByBash.

Alex Butaud’s two-out drive to centerfield in the bottom of the seventh inning scored two runs as Tullahoma beat Columbia 7-6 Thursday night in the District 8-AAA baseball tournament championship game at Shelbyville Central High School.

Tullahoma (32-6) will host Oakland, the runner-up in District 7-AAA, Monday night on the Tullahoma Sports Network. Columbia will travel to Riverdale on Monday, with the two winners meeting Wednesday for the Region 4-AAA title and securing berths in the sectional round. Tullahoma and Columbia have both been to the sectional round each of the last three years. If both Tullahoma and Columbia win Monday, then Wednesday’s game will be at Grider Stadium. Otherwise it will be played at the Riverdale or Oakland.

Butaud’s hit drove in Tyler Burns and Van Williams with the winning runs to complete a five-hour marathon of baseball that saw the lead swap back and forth during both games. Columbia won the opening game 4-1, scoring three runs in the top of the fifth inning and forcing a second championship game.

The Wildcats opened game two with two runs in the first inning on Justin Brown’s two run single with two outs. Another run in the third built a 3-0 lead for starting pitcher Peyton Phillips. But the Lions scored twice in the fourth and three more times in the fifth to take a 5-3 lead.

Phillips got chased in the fifth and was followed by Tyler Burns and Michael Shipp, who each gave up a run. R.J. Moore, replaced Shipp in the seventh after the Lions broke a 5-5 tie and took the lead, and pitching only his fifth inning of the season, allowed a walk but no hits and choked out the Columbia rally, putting the Cats in position to win it. When they did he got his first win of the season.

Comeback win keeps Lady Cats alive in tournament

The Tullahoma Lady Cats overcame a 3-0 first-inning deficit and beat Columbia 8-4 Wednesday night in the second round of the District 8-AAA softball tournament at Lady Cats Field behind East Middle School in Tullahoma.

Tullahoma (16-24) will face Lawrence County, a 2-1 winner over Franklin County, at 5 p.m. on Thursday. Following that contest, Shelbyville and Lincoln County will play at 7 p.m., with the winner moving into the championship game. The loser will play the Tullahoma/Lawrence County winner on Friday.

Columbia jumped on Lady Cats’ starter Dani Kirkpatrick for three runs in the top of the first inning, capped off by a two-run homer by Lady Lions’ catcher Darion Baker.

Tullahoma cut into the lead with a run in the second as junior catcher Megan Grenier led off the inning with a long home run over the left field fence.

Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the third, Tullahoma’s Lindsey Bowen led off with a double and scored as Kirkpatrick reached on a Columbia error. With two outs Taylor Honea reached on an error and Grenier drove home both Honea and pinch-runner Amber Clark with a triple off the wall. Lauren Hasty then drove home Grenier with a single to give the Lady Cats a 5-3 lead..

The Lady Cats added three insurance runs in the sixth as Abbie Jennings, Clark and Joanna Lyle all scored. Columbia scored once in the top of the seventh but Kirkpatrick closed out the Lady Lions to get the win. Kirkpatrick allowed eight hits and struck out six batters.

Burks blast seals Wildcats’ spot in tourney finals

Senior Trey Burks sealed Tullahoma’s spot in the District 8-AAA Tournament championship game with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Cats beat Columbia 7-3 at Grider Stadium Tuesday afternoon.

Tullahoma (31-5) not only will play for the district title Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Shelbyville, but also clinched one of four available positions in next week’s Region 4-AAA Tournament. Thursday’s district champions will host a region tournament opener Monday night.

Columbia (21-8) will have to beat Lincoln County on Wednesday, then win the elimination bracket finals, to get another opportunity at the Wildcats.

After a first-inning double play on defense, Tullahoma’s offense came out of the gate hot. Burks and Zach Lampkin opened the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back singles. Dalton Davis advanced the runners with a ground out and Justus Sheffield drove them both home with a single. Sheffield then stole second, advanced to third on the throwing error by the catcher, and scored on Justin Brown’s sacrifice fly to give the Cats a 3-0 lead after one.

But Davis (6-0) didn’t have his best stuff on the mound, even though he battled through it and got the win. The Lions’ Carter Bair hit a two-out single in the second, driving in a pair of Columbia runs to cut the Cats lead to 3-2. A leadoff double in the third led to another Columbia run and tied the score at three entering the bottom of the third.

Davis hit a two-out single that was followed by a long Sheffield double and after three innings Tullahoma had the lead that it would hold to the end. Columbia threatened in the top of the fourth as a single, a balk by Davis, and another single led to Columbia’s William Pinkleton racing home with the tying run. Sheffield, playing center field, scooped up the ball and fired it home to Alex Butaud, who blocked the plate and tagged Pinkleton for the second out. Davis struck out the final batter of the inning and momentum was back in the Cats’ corner.

With two outs in the fourth Burks turned back-to-back singles by Butaud and Zane Price into icing on the cake when he stepped to the plate and launched a long drive over the left-center field fence for the final three runs of the game.

Thursday’s district championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Shelbyville and will be broadcast live on the Tullahoma Sports Network, as will a second championship game is needed to decide the double-elimination tournament.

Davis went six innings, scattering nine hits and striking out seven Lions. Sheffield pitched a perfect seventh to close out the win.

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