Red Bank is scheduled to play in a semifinal of the Wildcat Classic, but getting to the medal rounds in these early-season baseball tournaments is a secondary goal for most teams.
The Lions, who dropped to Class AA this year, are scheduled to play former Class AAA rival Soddy-Daisy at Soddy-Daisy while Sequatchie County plays East Hamilton at Hixson in 1 p.m. semifinal games. The championship game is scheduled for 4:30 at Hixson. That is, of course, weather permitting, and late Saturday forecasts was calling for a 70 percent chance of rain.
Red Bank rebounded from a late-inning loss to Dalton with two Saturday wins, beating Sale Creek 11-6 and Chattanooga Christian 10-0.
“The bottom line for us is playing a lot of games and seeing teams we don’t get to play,” Red Bank coach Bumper Reese said. “This time of year it’s about getting a lot of experience.”
Reese’s younger players got almost as much playing time as his starters, and he also was able to have nine pitchers throw in four games.
Chattanooga Christian had a junior varsity player starting at seven of the nine positions against Red Bank.
“I don’t leave here dejected,” CCS coach John Visser said after falling to Dalton 8-1 Saturday morning and then to Red Bank in the afternoon. “We had a lot of inexperience, and any time we’re on the field with a team that hits the ball, we’re going to get more inexperience.”
The Chargers, who are replacing seven starters from last year, also have middle infielder Chris Weber out for the season with a shoulder injury and pitcher/center fielder Samuel Davenport hobbled by an ankle sprain.
Reese has to remind his team, one that consists of numerous underclassmen, that they are still early in the season.
“This is not a sprint but a marathon, and the first week or two the kids get tired because they haven’t gotten used to the schedule,” he said.
Soddy-Daisy enters today’s semifinal against the Lions unbeaten in six games. Trojans coach Jared Hensley also views tournaments as tools to prepare for the postseason.
“Winning trophies is important to some degree,” Hensley said. “You try to win every game, but tournaments this time of year are about finding out who you are as a team. These tournaments force you to go deep in your pitching staff.”
The Trojans had four games in the tournament and Hensley, like Reese, had been afforded the chance to see all of his players.
“We have been fortunate to get the young guys in there to get some quality at-bats,” he said. “It will be important for next season, sure, but it could be important to us later in the year.”
First-year program East Hamilton used six freshman pitchers during the tournament’s first three days, including four in one game Saturday.
“We want to get them the experience, but we also want to see how they play games in bunches. We aren’t necessarily looking for trophies, although even in nondistrict games you play to win,” Hurricanes coach Steve Garland said. “The fun thing is playing matchups rather than just running your best pitcher out there. If you just play three games a week, you’re not going to find the depth on your club.”