James Touchton was a weekend pitcher for much of Central Magnet's baseball season.
The Tigers have a three-headed mound monster.
Touchton handcuffed host Signal Mountain on Monday, holding the Eagles to one hit in a 7-1 Region 4-AA semifinal victory for the Murfreesboro school.
"They hit the ball well. It was just right at people," Central coach Jason Patterson said. "He got ahead of hitters, but then we made plays behind him.
Central Magnet will travel again to Baxter, Tenn., on Wednesday for a second shot at Region 8 champion Upperman, which outlasted Chattanooga Christian 2-1 in 11 innings.
"We played these guys a year ago on Monday, and I knew this was going to be a challenge," Patterson said.
Even down 5-1, Signal had a chance in the fifth until Garrett Hensley's rocket shot was flagged down in the infield and turned into a double play.
"That was big," Patterson acknowledged. "They had a guy reach on a passed-ball third strike, and the next guy hits a missile. Our third baseman snags it and turns it into a double play. I thought that took the air right out of them. You're a baserunner away from having the tying run at the plate and you're expecting two on and no out, and you go to two out and nobody on."
Again, much of it was Touchton.
"He could be our Monday guy, but we have three that are fairly comparable," Patterson said. "One of them is 7-0, and then we have a left-hander that's 8-1. Touchton (7-3) has had some quality losses."
Joey Hughes had a double and a single, good for two RBIs, and Darek Sargent doubled home two runs for the Tigers.
Signal ends the season 26-11.
"They're a good club. They hit the ball hard, and any mistakes we made they capitalized," Signal coach Josh Gandy said. "The double play definitely killed us. Two feet either way and that shot is a double."
* Upperman 2, Chattanooga Christian 1: At Baxter, Tenn., Brandon Mason pitched nine innings, giving up four hits and striking out eight in a losing effort for the Chargers.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.