LEBANON, Tenn. — Although it was a short stay, it was significant nonetheless.
Whitwell lost its second game in as many days and was eliminated from the Class 1A baseball state tournament after dropping a 5-2 extra-inning heartbreaker to Bradford on Thursday afternoon at Wilson Central High School.
It was the first trip to the TSSAA Spring Fling in program history for the Tigers, who had reached this week’s eight-team, double-elimination bracket with a roster that included seven freshmen and four seniors.
“It was new and tiring for everybody, but we learned a lot just by being here,” Tigers coach Chad Billingsley said. “It’s not just the games that will wear you down, but the whole week of being in a hotel, waiting through a rainout, being out of your element with the atmosphere — it’s a grind that we will be better prepared for next time now that we’ve experienced it.”
Tuesday’s inclement weather pushed back the start of the tournament back by a day, and the Tigers lost 6-1 to McKenzie on Wednesday.
However, the must-win game Thursday marked the state tourney pitching debut for Whitwell ace Jacob McCurry, and the senior left-hander went six innings, scattering four hits, allowing one earned run and striking out 15 batters in a 119-pitch outing.
The Tigers scored first when Michael Kilgore walked with the bases loaded in the third inning, then rallied to tie the game with another run on Kilgore’s sacrifice fly in the fifth after Bradford got two runs in the fourth.
But other than having a batter reach on a walk and another on an error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Whitwell (24-14-1) failed to threaten the rest of the way. Brayden Riley was 3-for-4 and Garrett Miller went 2-for-3 for the Tigers.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils (24-17) pushed three runs across in the top of the eighth, then set the Tigers down in order to advance. Bradford loaded the bases in the eighth as Jax Richardson led off with a double, Carver Cates followed with a single and Brodie McDaniel walked. Austyn Birmingham’s sacrifice fly drove in the go-ahead run and was followed by RBIs from Jaxon Street and Dylan Brauer, who also started on the mound.
Brauer pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run, seven hits and two walks while striking out four batters. Trevor Harrington came on to strike out the final two Whitwell batters.
“You live and learn,” said Billingsley, who has steadily built the program in his three seasons as coach, with the Tigers coming up one step shy of reaching state in 2024. “This was tough on a young group, but only three of our seniors were starters. So we’ve got three big spots to fill, but this was a really good experience for the guys coming back.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com.