GRAY DEYOSports Writer

For the second season in a row, the Tullahoma baseball team ended the regular season at the top of their division. They end their 2024-2025 campaign with an overall record of 24-9, and a division record of 9-1.

In their final five-game stretch of the season, they went 4-1.

Marshall County

The Wildcats played a two-game set against Marshall Co. on April 22-23 and won both matchups—winning the first game 10-9 and the second 7-3.

In the team’s first meeting, Tullahoma stormed back into the contest, scoring eight unanswered runs in the top of the sixth inning.

Tullahoma struck six singles and a two-RBI triple from Andrew Fulmer that equated to the goliath inning for the Wildcats. The hope of the Wildcats winning this contest was low before this scoring outburst, with the Wildcats walking to the plate at the start of the sixth down 9-2. This resilience to stick with a game will be needed with postseason play just around the corner.

Teams that refuse to go away, are usually the ones that can carve a deep path in the playoffs.

In the team’s second matchup, the Wildcats were able to establish an advantage, with a 6-0 lead going into the sixth inning. Marshall tried to muster their way back into the game, with a three-run inning in the sixth, but it was too little too late, as that is where the run productiuon stopped for the Tigers.

Mason Bratcher and Fulmer did the majority of the damage for Tullahoma in this contest, with the pair combining for four RBIs. Fulmer had two hits with one being a solo shot home run in the bottom of the third, while Bratcher plated his two runs on his lone hit of the day on a double in the bottom of the first.

Moore County and Community High School

On April 23 the Wildcats picked up a 9-3 win over Moore County and followed it with another “W” on April 25 with a 4-0 win over Community High School.

Against Moore, the Wildcats were knotted in a tight game until the fifth and sixth innings where Tullahoma blew the game wide open. Tullahoma had a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth. They were able to extend their lead by scoring two runs in the inning, as Xander Pogue and Justin Frank both scored on wild pitches from Moore. They then scored four runs in the bottom of the six from one error and three RBI singles hit by Fulmer, JD Schmisseur, and Brycen Campbell.

In this contest, the Wildcats had a total of 12 hits with Baylen Tuten and Schmisseur leading the category with two knocks each, while every other player in Tullahoma’s lineup logged a singular hit next to their name.

Grayson Waller and Addian Evans pitched six of the seven innings against Moore. They combined for eight strikeouts–each striking out four—and together allowed two runs.

The great pitching carried over in the Wildcats’ next game against Community, where they added another shutout win to their resume. Tullahoma had five pitchers take the mound—Hunter Hogan, Andrew Zebick, Ben Quick, Pogue, and Fulmer–they combined for 12 strikeouts and allowed just one hit in the game.

Shelbyville Central

In the Wildcats’ last regular season game of the year, they lost to Shelbyville Central 14-3 on April 28. The 11-run deficit was the largest loss margin of the year for Tullahoma.

They got down early against the opposing Golden Eagles, who bolstered a record of 25-8 record, and they could never find a way back.

They trailed after the first two innings 4-0. The Wildcats trimmed the lead to one going into the bottom of the fifth inning but unfortunately were hit with a storm of runs similar to the one they put together against Marshall County. Shelbyville ended up outsourcing the Wildcats 10-1 in the fifth and sixth, forcing a mercy rule and giving the Wildcats their ninth loss of the year.

A standout performer in this contest for Tullahoma despite the loss was Fulmer. Tullahoma ended the game with a total of seven hits and the senior Fulmer had three of them.