CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Heath Comerford labored on the comeback trail for three innings, but the McMinn County junior managed to sweat through a long-awaited pitching debut Thursday in the District 5-AAA baseball tournament opener.

Comerford had been expected to be a bulwark in the Cherokees’ rotation, but tendinitis had kept him off the mound since a preseason scrimmage. He picked up the win, allowing three hits and no earned runs, in McMinn County’s 14-2 victory over Cumberland County.

“It went about like I expected,” Comerford said after throwing 56 pitches with two strikeouts and two walks. “I felt I could have gone another inning. My arm felt good, but I couldn’t find that little extra. The doctor said control was the last thing I’d get back.”

Comerford suffered a concussion and missed four days and then went into a scrimmage throwing as hard as he could. He then endured six weeks of rehab, and his return last week was postponed when he was hit on his right elbow in the first inning.

“Heath didn’t have his best stuff. He wasn’t his old self, but he hit some spots and it was good to see him back out there,” McMinn coach Jason Howard said.

While his pitching is a work in progress, Comerford’s hitting has been impressive after he worked out of a midseason slump. He doubled and homered in three at-bats Thursday.

“Coach Howard spent some extra time with me in the cage, and I think we have it sorted out,” he said.

“His timing was off, but the last two weeks he has started hitting the ball hard,” Howard said. “It wasn’t me, though. Heath dedicated himself to working hard and getting better.”

Catcher Bailey Turner’s two-run homer put the Cherokees on top. Tanner Quirk went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, Case Roberts had two hits and three RBIs, and Will Matthews went 2-for-4 with a three-run double in the four-run fourth that gave McMinn its 14-2 lead and ended the game after the top of the fifth.

Seven of McMinn’s 13 hits were for extra bases.

“I told Coach (Keith) Hodge before the game that if we were going to do much in this tournament that we needed to get some extra-base hits,” Howard said.

The Cherokees advance to tonight’s semifinals. They’ll meet second-seeded Walker Valley at 8.

n Cleveland 4, Rhea County 1: Cleveland scored four runs in the first inning and made them hold up to advance to a semifinal at 5 p.m. today against top seed Bradley Central. Tyler Brown (8-1) pitched a three-hitter. Jared Robinson with two singles was the only batter with more than one hit. Tanner Leamon took the loss, giving up all five of Blue Raiders hits in the first two innings.

n Chattanooga Christian 6, Bledsoe County 2: In the District 6-AA tournament play-in game, Landon Gray earned the pitching win and went 2-for-4 with three RBIs for the Chargers. Chase Caldwell was 3-for-3, while Tyler Smith and Isaac Davenport each had two hits and an RBI. CCS travels to face Sequatchie County today at 6 p.m.