Grundy County is headed back to the TSSAA state baseball tournament, although the players on the current roster would be hard-pressed to remember the last time. The Yellow Jackets are Spring Fling-bound for the first time since 2004 after defeating Signal Mountain 5-3 in a Class AA state sectional Friday night at Signal Mountain.
This marks Grundy's fourth overall trip to the tournament, which this year starts Tuesday in Murfreesboro.
"I've never coached a team that deserves to go more than this bunch," Grundy coach Chase Jones said.
Pitchers Blane Harris of Grundy (23-9) and Samuel Witherspoon of Signal Mountain matched zeros for the first four innings before Witherspoon ran into some trouble in the top of the fifth.
"Early on I thought we had some quality at-bats," Jones said. "But the balls we hit found leather."
Cason King singled starting the fifth and was sacrificed to second. The Eagles then tried to get the only out they could on Harris's bunt single, but the throw to third got away, allowing King to score.
Jaden Ruehling singled through the hole on the left side to drive in a run and chase Witherspoon from the mound. Noah Bean's double to left-center left runners on third and second, and Kenzie Hill drove in the third run when he grounded out.
"They came out and executed when they needed to," Signal Mountain coach Josh Gandy said. "I'm actually proud of the way my guys battled. My freshman (Witherspoon) stood there and fought them for three innings. Then they got something going, executing some small ball."
Errors sandwiched around a strikeout provided two runners for Signal Mountain (21-15) in the bottom of the inning. Scott Payne then hit a drive to the left-field fence, and although it resulted only in a single, it plated a run. After Landon Edwards singled in a run, Drew Lowry was intentionally walked before the Yellow Jackets turned Collin Farr's sacrifice fly into a double play, although it tied the game.
But Grundy regained the advantage the next inning with two runs on one hit. The hit was Evan Jaynes' hit-and-run single with two outs with Jacob Thomas in motion toward second after he was hit by a pitch. The tiebreaking run scored on a fielding error, and Bean brought in another when he walked.
Harris, a senior left-hander, went the distance and allowed eight hits and two walks aside from the intentional one while striking out four.
"He's not overpowering with his velocity," Jones said. "He might hit 80 (mph), 81. But he's got command of his curveball, got command of his changeup. The thing is he keeps batters off balance. And he's a competitor. He's got the heart of a lion."
Signal Mountain, which was hosting its first sectional, made it to the state tournament for the first time last year. The Eagles graduated eight, so Gandy was complimentary of his team for returning this far.
"This will be good motivation for next year," Gandy said. "We graduate four off this team. They've set the bar high."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.