There was more discipline from Signal Mountain's hitters than at any other time this season, and that discipline is sending the Eagles to the Region 4-AA baseball championship game.
They had just five hits but scored three runs off walks in a 6-1 victory over visiting Smith County, District 8's runner-up.
"We were patient at the plate, and it paid off,' Eagles coach Josh Gandy said. "We fought off some good pitches, and their pitchers would hit the black (edging the plate) one time and then be way off. Our guys recognized that and showed a lot of patience and we got the walks, which was fortunate."
Signal (28-8) also got a strong pitching performance from senior Seth Wicker, who rebounded from a first-inning mistake - a towering home run by Bryant Goolsby - to pitch shutout ball the rest of the way.
"I missed my spot up and he tattooed it," said the Lee University-bound left-hander. "In the fourth and sixth innings, I got in jams and went back to throwing strikes and keeping the ball low in the zone."
That home run was the only scoring mistake he made as he scattered seven hits while striking out 11.
"That was typical Seth," Gandy said. "He battle: 'Here it is; I'm throwing my pitches and you'll have to do something with them.' What I'm most proud of is that he didn't try to do too much. He threw strikes - fastballs, curveballs and changeups for strikes."
Wednesday will be Signal Mountain's first appearance in a Class AA region final, but the opponent will be a familiar one. The Eagles will host Murfreesboro Central Magnet, a 6-1 winner over Chattanooga Christian and the team that eliminated the Eagles last year in a Region 4-AA semifinal.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.