Presley, Carpenter, Bears squeeze past Ooltewah

Baseball tile
Baseball tile

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Tyler Carpenter came through in the clutch, singling home Jake Presley with the game-winning run, but it was Presley who set the stage for Bradley's near-miraculous comeback for the District 5-AAA baseball tournament championship Tuesday.

The Bears squeezed past Ooltewah 4-3, ending the Owls' hopes of a Cinderella finish in the tournament. Ooltewah was stretched to three games in its best 2-of-3 semifinal against Soddy-Daisy in order to gain the championship.

Presley actually figured in two key plays. The Bears' No. 2 hitter, he had gone hitless with three strikeouts when coach Travis Adams asked him to lay down a one-out squeeze bunt. He did so on a 2-2 pitch, scoring courtesy runner Pete Williams with the tying run in the seventh.

"Tonight was a big situation after the mistakes I'd made in the field and at the plate," Presley said. "When he called for the squeeze, I knew it was my time to step up."

When he called time to talk with Presley before the bunt, Adams never mentioned the bunt.

"He said to flush everything that had happened previously and how I'd done in previous at-bats – to just get in there and redeem myself," Presley said.

"We didn't talk about the bunt. He'd had a rough game and I was trying to make sure his mind was right. I trusted his chances and his talent. We practice it for a reason," Adams said.

In the bottom of the ninth with two down, Presley ever so slightly leaned into a pitch to earn his way on. He then stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw, scoring the winner on Carpenter's ringing single to center.

A Lee University signee, Carpenter entered his ninth-inning appearance 0-for-4.

"It had been a rough night. After that (fourth) at-bat when I grounded out to third, I was dying," he said. "I wanted us to go ahead and win it, but I really wanted the opportunity to come again."

Adams, too, was hoping it would end a lot sooner.

"But Tyler told me after his last at-bat that he wasn't going down like that again," the Bears coach said.

The game nullified a magnificent pitching performance by Ooltewah's Ethan Walls, who is just now rounding back into shape after an injury during football season. He pitched 6 2/3 innings and limited the Bears to one earned run and stood to be the winner until Bradley knotted the score on the squeeze.

"They're a really tough team - a good bunch of bats. They fought. Hopefully we'll see them again in the region," Carpenter said.

Bradley starter Gunnar Norwood also pitched well enough to win but left the game after eight innings, having thrown more than 100 pitches.

He had eight strikeouts and allowed two earned runs.

Bradley will host the District 6-AAA runner-up on Monday, while Ooltewah will travel to the 6-AAA champion. Teams still alive in that tournament were Cookeville, Rhea County, Warren County and White County.

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

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