Still, Thompson lead Bears past Cookeville, 4-1

Bradley baseball coach Travis Adams talks to his players as Bradley Central wins 6-3 over Ooltewah in the season opening game for both teams Monday, Mar. 9, 2015, in Cleveland, Tenn.
Bradley baseball coach Travis Adams talks to his players as Bradley Central wins 6-3 over Ooltewah in the season opening game for both teams Monday, Mar. 9, 2015, in Cleveland, Tenn.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - For the past 734 days, Cason Still and his Bradley Central baseball teammates had waited and worked diligently for a rematch with Cookeville and its ace, T.J. Webb.

Two years ago as a sophomore, Webb used a baffling assortment of off-speed pitches to end the Bears' season in a Region 3-AAA semifinal shutout. Two years later, the Bears combined Still's blazing speed and clutch hitting with Brandon Thompson's dominant pitching to break through Webb's hold and reach the region championship game.

The tone for Monday's 4-1 victory was set with Thompson's first two pitches of the game - a fastball and a curve - and Still's single to open the home half of the first inning. Still, who was 3-for-4, came around to score the first run, and Thompson no-hit the Cavaliers for 4 2/3 innings.

The Bears (27-6) will travel to Rhea County on Wednesday to face the Eagles in the 3-AAA title game.

"We've been waiting for this and looking forward to facing him again," Still said. "We wanted come out fast, and it's my job to put pressure on the defense with my speed. And with the way Brandon pitches, he gives us confidence and it's easy to play defense behind him."

Freshman cleanup hitter Dylan Standifer plated Still with the game's first run, and Still gave the Bears a 2-0 advantage in the second when he delivered a two-out RBI to score Hunter James.

Speed played a key role in the two-run Bears fourth when James executed a perfect suicide squeeze bunt and Still, as the next batter, beat out a slow grounder to Webb between the mound and first. Before Webb could restore order, Jake Presley had plated James with the Bears' fourth run.

The cushion was more than enough for Thompson, who is 10-0 with an ERA below 0.75 this season. By spotting his fastball and breaking out a devastating curveball that served as the hammer against the Cavaliers, Thompson kept the visitors off stride all night. He limited Cookeville to three hits while striking out six on a night when he only went to a three-ball count with three batters.

"I knew it would be a battle coming into the game," Thompson said. "I just wanted to go out there and get ahead of them in the count. I was trying to establish my fastball and curveball early in the game. My curveball was there for me the whole game."

Thompson's only off-target throw of the night was an errant pickoff attempt that went down the right-field line. The wild throw allowed only the second runner of the night to reach second base and for the Cavaliers to score on the play.

"It's great to have Brandon out there, especially when he's able to get ahead in the count by establishing his fastball. He can be real tough and he's been that way for us all year," Bradley coach Travis Adams said. "We've had the number of days up on the board our guys were ready for tonight.

"We had a bit of a different lineup for them," he added. "Speed's a great tool to have, and we were able to use it tonight."

"It's been a long two years," Still said. "This is big for us, and it feels great to come through and get to the region final."

Contact Greg Thompson at sports@timesfreepress.com.

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