Gordon Lee's Bo Rhudy roared in celebration on the mound shortly after his 92 mph fastball was called for a third strike to close a 2-1 victory over previously unbeaten Silverdale Baptist Academy on Wednesday.
The junior pitcher, a 6-foot-3, 220-pounder who has an ERA below 1.00 for the second straight season, played a big part in the Trojans' win against the Seahawks at Hixson High School on the opening day of Central's Purple Pounder Classic.
He fanned nine batters, and more than half of those strikeouts were in the final three innings, with Rhudy getting better as the game went on thanks to a fastball that topped out at 93 as well as a cutter and a sharp slider.
"My defense really backed me up, and I knew I had to attack and throw my best against a really good Silverdale lineup," Rhudy said. "I had a really good grip on the baseball today. This offseason I really worked on perfecting my pitching with my pitching coach Michael Kelly, who plays in Triple-A for the Phillies. I am blessed to be where I am and am still working to get even better with my teammates."
Cooper Jackson had the go-ahead RBI single to center field for the Trojans (8-8), who scored both runs in the fourth inning. The Chickamauga, Georgia, program has won two of the past three GHSA Class A public school championships and came close to the title last season.
Sebastian Hanks struck out five batters in three innings of relief for Silverdale (10-1), but the Seahawks could only muster a single run as Eric Boggess doubled and later executed a double steal for the score.
"Bo is a very special talent who has huge baseball dreams," Gordon Lee coach Nate Dunfee said of Rhudy, who has offers from Missouri and Georgia State. "I don't know if there's another kid out there that works as hard as he does. He takes care of his body and is 100% dedicated to this game."
In Gordon Lee's second game of the day, an 8-7 loss to host Hixson, Rhudy hit a two-run go-ahead homer in the seventh, but Wildcats senior Kane Johnson singled in the eighth to drive in Jase Moses and end the game after one extra inning.
Hixson's Cole Shackleford had his second straight three-hit game and put the winning run at second with no outs for Johnson, who homered to left-center field earlier in the game. Cameron Compton got the win on the mound for Hixson with a perfect inning in relief, while Cameron Butler and Cooper Bailey each had two hits and RBIs.
"This win is huge for us," Hixson coach Colton Green said after his team improved to 5-9. "At one point we had lost four games by a total of six runs. Tonight we played error-free defense, our guys threw strikes and we had 12 hits. We needed some momentum, and it feels nice to get over the hump."
Maddox Russak also had a double play as the Hixson right fielder threw a shot to third base to nab Gordon Lee's tagging runner.
Johnson was chased down by his teammates after his hot shot up the middle brought in Moses, who scored his third run of the game.
"This is a great win for us and our biggest this season," Shackleford said. "This is one I think can kick-start things for us and get us rolling. I knew once Kane was up, the game was over. He is such a great hitter, and we all feed off one another."
Gordon Lee's Nate Dunfee had two hits and scored three runs in the defeat, while Holt Roberts had two doubles.
Castelin fires no-hitter
Only a hit batter kept Soddy-Daisy's Beaux Castelin from a perfect game Wednesday as he threw 63 of his 83 pitches for strikes and struck out nine batters in a 9-0 victory at Sequatchie County. Anthony Florio backed up Castelin's complete game with three hits, including a triple, as he scored three runs and drove in two. Troy James was the catcher for the no-hitter.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.