From first appearances it seemed likely earlier this week that Chase Cook's baseball season was over.
Silverdale Baptist's young left-hander took a shot to his pitching hand in Monday's game with Grace Academy.
"We thought it was broken. I don't know if you believe in such things, but we prayed as a team Monday night," Seahawks coach Gray Ange said. "He came back from the doctor, and his hand was swollen but there weren't any breaks."
Cook answered the call Thursday and was good enough for a 10-4 District 5-A championship win over visiting Boyd-Buchanan.
He went into the sixth inning with a 10-1 lead, scattering six hits while pitching around a couple of errors.
He escaped bases-loaded threats in the second and third innings but finally was touched for a three-run Colby Morgan home run. He left with the 10-4 advantage, and Cade Hannah finished up by striking out three of the five Buccaneers he faced.
"They had nine hits; we had nine hits. They capitalized on their chances; we didn't," Boyd-Buchanan coach Taylor Gilley said.
While Boyd-Buchanan left 10 runners on base, the Seahawks left the bases loaded only after scoring runs. They punched across three in the second inning, the key hits coming from Tyler Mossburg and Hayden Spencer, and then scored four in the fourth on a two-run single from Sawyer Jenkins and RBI singles from Spencer and Alex Gonzalez.
That was after a third at-bat when Blake Howard and Spencer launched solo home runs.
With a 5-1 lead through three, though, Ange wasn't quite ready to slip into the rocking chair.
"I don't know if I'd say I felt good (after the two home runs), but I did feel like we were playing like we had been of late," he said. "That's a good Boyd team over there, and the top of the lineup can put up two-three runs every time they come to the plate."
From his own lineup, Gonzalez, Howard and Spencer provided two hits apiece and six of the Silverdale runs.
Silverdale will be at home Monday against Marion County for a Region 3-A semifinal. Boyd-Buchanan travels to South Pittsburg.
"We have to travel but we're still playing," Gilley said. "I told the guys to come ready to fight on Monday."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.