CLEVELAND, Tenn. - With an ear-to-ear grin on his face and a death grip on the souvenir baseball in his hand, Bradley Central junior Logan Weeks tried to explain his emotions in between congratulatory back slaps and high-fives.
Weeks, the Bears' No. 8 batter, became an unlikely hero when he drilled a 1-1 pitch well over the left-field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning Thursday night to give his team a 6-4 lead over Lincoln County. Reliever Jake Prock recorded the final three outs for the win that advanced Bradley Central to next week's Class AAA state tournament for the first time since 2007.
"That was my first one. Not just this season - it was my first varsity home run," Weeks said as he glanced down at the game-winning baseball a teammate had retrieved and given to him. "I was just looking to make good contact and hopefully get a hit, but he threw it high and inside, where I like it, and to be honest I knew it was gone as soon as I made contact.
"I'm just really excited right now."
Weeks' home run helped Bradley respond to a three-run Falcons rally in the top of the inning that tied the game.
"They had fought back, so hats off to them, but when our guys came off the field I reminded them that we were still tied, not behind, and we had six outs to try and get a run and they only had three left," Bears coach Travis Adams said. "I know it took some of the wind out of our sails, but I wanted our guys to realize that we were still in good shape and we just had to go to work.
"To get a big hit like that from our eight-hole hitter just proves that anybody in this lineup can step up for us."
The Bears (22-14) had taken an early lead with two runs in the second that came from an aggressive mentality on the bases. Ryan Giovengo doubled to lead off the inning, then scored on a throwing error when Tucker Still's sacrifice bunt was misplayed. Still stole home with two outs.
The Bears added a run in the fourth on Freddy Johnson's squeeze bunt to score Still, then answered the Falcons' run in the fifth with one of their own on Riley Black's RBI single. It was Black's ninth hit in his past 11 at-bats, and he went 2-for-3.
"This doesn't happen without a lot of hard work," Adams added. "We've had some letdowns in this round before, but tonight our guys kept battling and found a way, and this feels great."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.