Murfreesboro Central Magnet proved to be a thorn once again for the Signal Mountain baseball team, and that midstate nemesis has the Eagles booking a bus for Sweetwater.
The Tigers, who eliminated Signal from the postseason the past two seasons in region semifinal play, captured the Region 4-AA baseball championship 11-9 in a free-swinging slugfest Wednesday night.
Signal Mountain will travel Friday to Sweetwater, which won the Region 3 championship over Central, 5-4. Central will be traveling to Murfreesboro to play Central Magnet on Friday.
It looked like that Murfreesboro Central magic, which previously has haunted Signal, was at its best early. The Tigers bolted to a 7-0 lead, sparked by a six-run first inning.
The Eagles, though, weren't going to fade quietly into the night. They rallied for five runs in the third and actually took an 8-7 lead through four and then tied it at 9 in the fifth. Central Magnet scored two more in the top of the sixth to close out the scoring.
"I'm proud of the guys. They didn't roll over," Signal coach Josh Gandy said. "We didn't let it go after that first inning. We settled back and took the lead and fought against a very good team.
"That was a fun game. I hate losing, but that was a fun game. There are positives to take from that, and it's good for the guys to be part of a game like that."
Signal settled in to dispel any notions of a runaway and actually out-hit the perennial state tournament contenders 11-10.
"After the first inning I thought our pitchers pitched well and the guys battled at the plate," Gandy said.
Drew Lowery and Garrett Hensley led the Eagles offense with three hits apiece, and Colin Farr and Ryan Sekensky had two-RBI nights.
"The seniors didn't give up, but this team knows how to battle and what to do," senior center fielder Grant Galbraith said. "If we take the momentum we built today, then I think we have a chance to do something on Friday."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.