The outcome was anticlimactic. Signal Mountain already had clinched the District 7-AA baseball championship with a one-run victory Monday.
The Eagles, though, went about their business at home Tuesday with the same intensity, blowing past Grundy County 10-0 behind the five-inning no-hit pitching of Seth Wicker.
The performance was a welcome sight for Signal coach Josh Gandy, who had rested the big lefty for a couple of weeks to alleviate a stiff shoulder.
"He was overthrowing a little in the first. We talked when he came in and he dialed it back a little percentage-wise," the Eagles coach said. "He pitched great (early in the season), then took some time off with the shoulder. This is probably his first game back."
Wicker overcame five baserunners, three of his own making - two hit batsmen and a walk - but ended every inning with a strikeout. He finished with 9 Ks and struck out Grundy's 1-2-3 hitters in the third.
"I'm completely healthy - back to normal," Wicker said. "My velocity is still a little low, but other than that I'm 100 percent."
It was the second no-hitter of Wicker's career. He threw one last year against Bledsoe County, but this one was a struggle, at least early when he hit a batter and wild-pitched him to second in the first inning and then hit another Yellow Jacket and walked another in the second.
It's possible that a late start to the game threw him slightly out of sync.
"We had a little bit of a delay and it was like I had to warm back up. Then I struggled a little bit with my fastball, so I used off-speed stuff more," he said.
The Eagles plated four runs in their first at-bat. Jake Carmichael reached on an error and advanced on Jackson Etter's sacrifice. Garrett Hensley following with a crushing, run-scoring double to right-center, and Grant Galbraith walked.
Young Grundy pitcher Collin Cooper then got a 3-2 pitch high in the zone, and Wicker nailed it. The three-run homer, a laser to right, cleared the fence with no more than a couple of feet to spare.
"When you get that kind of (pitching) performance, you have to say he's more valuable on the mound, but it's nice to have him in the lineup behind those 3-4 hitters," Gandy said.
Hensley was the only Eagle with two hits and each was a double - one to right-center and the other to left-center. Wicker and Drew Lowry had three RBIs apiece, and Briston Reese added a run-scoring hit. Lowry provided the game-ending RBI on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.
The game wasn't really a good indicator of Grundy's ability, Gandy said.
"It's like our game on Monday. They were a hit away," he said. "They're a young club but a good club. They're like we were last year - talented but learning and getting better."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.