Josh Antwine pitched Friday as if he had an angel on his shoulder.
As he fashioned a two-hitter through 5 2/3 innings -- with eight strikeouts -- perhaps he did, if only in his heart.
In pitching Boyd-Buchanan to a state baseball tournament place-clinching victory, Antwine had good friend Dakota Gonzalez in his thoughts.
"He got killed by a drunk driver last summer," Antwine said following the Buccaneers' 5-1 sectional victory over visiting Jackson County. "His dad is one of the greatest guys and through it all has been amazing, and it's given me strength to play the game."
In his hat, Antwine has written First John 4:4: "I belong to God."
"That was Dakota's favorite verse, and it keeps me humble and also gives me strength," Antwine said.
"He just cruised," Bucs coach Josh Rider said, "and then John Sewell came in and picked up where he left off. It was pre-planned to come with John after five or six innings because we needed to get him some work before the state tournament."
Antwine was dominating early, allowing only first-inning and fifth-inning singles through the first five while facing just two batters over the minimum. He issued no walks.
Despite hitting the ball hard, Boyd-Buchanan had nothing to show for it until the third inning, when Cade Evans reached on a well-placed bunt, stole second and third and then scored on an error.
"Two fell one way or the other and we put a lot of runs on the board," Rider said. "We hit some rockets, but (Jackson County defenders) positioned themselves well and limited the damage."
The Bucs got some breathing room in the fourth. Austin Jackson opened with a single, stole second and scored on a single by Hunter Payne. Skyler Anderson then scorched a run-scoring double down the left-field line.
Two more in the fifth pretty much ended Jackson County's hopes. Antwine singled and Jackson and Brandon Willingham followed with RBI hits, upping the score to 5-0.
Jackson County's lone run -- unearned -- came after Tyler Boling stroked a two-out single and scored on the Bucs' lone error.
Boyd-Buchanan's state opener will be on Tuesday in Murfreesboro.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.