Boyd-Buchanan had a season-high 16 hits - including six home runs - and needed most of them to nail down a Region 3-A berth Monday at Silverdale Baptist Academy.
With the 17-10 win over the Seahawks, the Buccaneers secured a day off today. Wednesday they will play the winner of today's 5 p.m. losers-bracket final between Arts & Sciences and host Silverdale.
Colby Morgan and E.J. Matthews each went deep twice, accounting for eight of the Bucs' runs. Also homering were Cooper Hodge and Seth Rogers. Silverdale boosted the homer total to nine for the game with Blake Howard getting two (three RBIs) and Hayden Spencer one.
"Those guys are strong and have really quick bats. The home runs they hit would've been out of a lot of ballparks," Seahawks coach Jonathan Adcock said.
"It's a good place to play, especially offensively when you run into one and hit it right-center and right - it's going out," said Boyd-Buchanan coach Taylor Gilley, whose squad improved to 20-4. "On the bump, it's a different story."
Brandon Willingham struggled, especially in the first three innings when he surrendered an ERA-shattering nine runs on nine hits. The senior hung in there, though, and allowed just one unearned run the next three innings before giving way to Cade Evans.
"He fought. He was a bulldog there and he got better as the game went on," Gilley said. "From the fourth through the sixth he was special. He didn't quit."
Willingham, who had eight strikeouts, struck out the side in the fourth and sixth innings.
The Bucs didn't take the lead for good until the sixth, which included Matthews' three-run shot. They added two in the seventh on Morgan's second blast and a final run on a wild pitch.
"It was a battle between a couple of teams that really wanted to win this ballgame," Adcock said. "I just felt our pitchers left too many up there waist-high. We've never had a good outcome against Willingham, and to score a bunch of runs against him was exciting."
If the Seahawks win today, they will host Boyd-Buchanan again Wednesday. Arts & Sciences would play at Boyd-Buchanan.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.