Boyd-Buchanan Buccaneers force second game, then fall to Knoxville Grace

May 22, 2015 at 1:00 a.m. | Updated May 22, 2015 at 3:44 a.m.

by Ward Gossett

Boyd-Buchanan runner Skyler Anderson crosses home for a run around Knoxville Grace catcher Hayden Coffman during their Division I-A state baseball tournament game against Knoxville Grace on Thursday, May 21, 2015, at the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Boyd-Buchanan runner Skyler Anderson crosses home for a run around Knoxville Grace catcher Hayden Coffman during their Division I-A state baseball tournament game against Knoxville Grace on Thursday, May 21, 2015, at the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- A win away from the TSSAA Class A baseball championship game, Boyd-Buchanan got the matchup it wanted against Knoxville Grace Christian.

Having beat the Rams 6-3 in eight innings to force an "if-necessary" game in their half of the bracket, the Buccaneers pitted their ace and freshest arm, Skyler Anderson, against Tanner Fee.

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photo Boyd-Buchanan's John Sewell pitches during their Division I-A state baseball tournament game against Knoxville Grace on Thursday, May 21, 2015, at the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Saving Anderson was a gamble but one that worked out well in the first meeting as the Bucs got five strong innings from John Sewell, their big lefty, and then the final three innings and the win from Brandon Willingham. It was Willingham who took the tournament-opening loss Tuesday, but he got a measure of vengeance with that Thursday first-game win.

In the rematch, however, Anderson allowed nine hits and got limited support -- Boyd-Buchanan had four errors -- while Fee had his way with the Bucs batters. He allowed just two hits until Hunter Payne's run-scoring double in the bottom of the seventh.

Fee struck out nine.

"He's an incredible pitcher. He was locating his breaking ball and he had to be mid- or even upper-80s with his fastball," Boyd-Buchanan coach Josh Rider said. "He was just a tough cookie to handle. Our guys battled, but he was the better athlete tonight. He did what a number-one pitcher does."

Fee got the best of summer-ball teammate Anderson.

"Skyler goes out there every game and gives you everything he has. He did an incredible job and a great job limiting the damage," Rider said. "A couple of times they had runners on first and third with no outs and didn't get anything."

Payne was 2-for-3 for the Bucs.

"We just couldn't get the bats going enough against Tanner to get a real rally," Rider said.

Boyd-Buchanan got win No. 30, a school record for a season, in the first game. The Bucs scored three runs in the fifth to go up 3-2 and added three in the top of the eighth to put it away.

Josh Antwine, Austin Jackson and Sewell got two hits apiece and Cade Evans had three RBIs.

"They had the soft lefty on the mound and it took us a couple of times through the order to get geared in," Rider said. "We started putting good swings on the ball, and then they brought in the righty. He throws a little harder, which is right up our alley."

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.

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