EVENSVILLE, Tenn. - In one at-bat Monday during the Region 3-AAA baseball semifinal, Cameron Wilkerson epitomized what has transformed Rhea County into a sudden title contender.
Down 0-2 in the count with two outs and the bases loaded in what was a two-run game against Ooltewah, the Eagles' burly first baseman didn't panic. After working the count full by laying off several breaking balls, Wilkerson launched a mammoth grand slam, leading Rhea to an 11-1 five-inning win.
The Eagles (22-13) will host Bradley Central, a 4-1 winner over Cookeville, in Wednesday's region final at 7.
"This bunch has progressed so much since he early season," Rhea coach Rusty Ray said. "For instance, Cameron was patient during that big at-bat. Early in the season he would have swung at that soft stuff away from him, but he laid off it tonight, sat back and hit one about 410 feet into those trees."
The Owls (23-16) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when an infield error scored Andy Reid, who had led off the inning with a double.
Rhea tied the game in the third on Weston Ray's double and used a patient approach to break the game open in the fourth.
A walk, a sacrifice bunt and a single preceded Reece Cooley's suicide squeeze bunt that gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead. A hit batter and two more walks by Ooltewah starter Mitch Duncan made it 3-1, setting up Wilkerson's tone-changing homer.
"I worked it to 3-2 and he threw me a fastball and I hit it well," said Wilkerson of his fifth homer. "I finally realized late in the year I had to wait back and make them come to me. That was the longest one, I'm pretty sure."
The runs were plenty enough for ace Braxton Dieckhaus, who improved to 13-2. The right-hander worked around baserunners in each inning, including having runners on third and second with no outs in the fifth. Dieckhaus escaped trouble with a short fly and two strikeouts, and when the Eagles scored five more times in the fifth - the final two on Garrett Swafford's single - the game was suddenly over.
"This team is playing with a lot of confidence," Coach Ray said. "I'm just proud of this bunch. We weren't expected to do much and we have just two seniors. We'll have our hands full Wednesday with Bradley. I hear they've got some good pitchers, but all I do know is that we'll fight all the way."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.