The Region 3-AAA baseball final Wednesday night pitted a pair of left-handed pitchers who had to battle themselves as hard as their opponents. Ooltewah starter Trevor Wiggs won his battle, and the Owls won the war in a rout.
Wiggs, who was in danger of coming out early due to his shaky initial control, wound up getting credit for a five-inning complete game as the Owls feasted on Mustangs pitching and won 14-3. Wiggs wound up with a five-hitter, allowing two earned runs.
As a result, Ooltewah gets to stay put at home Friday to host Stewarts Creek in a Class AAA sectional, while runner-up Walker Valley must hit the road to the midstate. Game time for the Owls will be 7 p.m.
While Wiggs enjoyed the postgame celebration from atop the mound, counterpart Ethan Hailey was unable to survive his wildness. He lasted only 1 2/3 innings, walking two, hitting two and throwing two wild pitches. He was followed by three more pitchers with similar results.
"That was not his best stuff, but Wiggs battled them," said his coach, Brian Hitchcox, after the Owls defeated Walker Valley for the fourth time this season. "We have confidence in several of our guys, so we weren't going to leave him out there too long. But when we followed that big inning with three more runs, we let him go."
Walker Valley threatened in the first inning, but a courtesy runner was doubled off second on a routine fly ball to abruptly end all concerns. In the Owls' second, they took advantage of two hit batsmen and a pair of walks that set the table. Ethan Walls' two-run single ended Hailey's night.
The Mustangs answered with a three-run third, when a pair of doubles and a key error set the table for Bradley Swafford's two-run single. But Wiggs got Jordan Munck on a fly ball and allowed only a pair of singles the rest of the way.
Ooltewah built up its 10-run cushion with three runs in the third and five more in the fourth. Jake Sullivan had three RBIs in that span, while Austin Spurgeon had a 3-for-3 game with three runs scored, two stolen bases and a pair of RBIs.
"We made a couple of big plays early, but the guys swung the bats with men on base tonight," Hitchcox said.
Contact David Jenkins at sports@timesfreepress.com