DUANE SHERRILLEditor

It looked like the rout was on at Greene Field Tuesday night as the Tullahoma Middle School Varsity Wildcats were down 13-0 before they even came to bat after being shellacked by the Rockvale Rockets in the top of the first.

However, what looked to be an early night and a run-ruled shortened game ended up being an instant classic for the young ‘Cats as they completed an improbable comeback, winning 16-15 with a walk-off single by Zion Jeffrey.

Down 13-0 after one, Tullahoma did little to raise the hopes of the fans as they still trailed 14-2 after the second inning. However, the squad continued chipping away at the Rocket lead in subsequent innings, eating the elephant one bite at a time, scoring four runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings while holding their visitors scoreless.

“As a coaching staff we look for times early in the season to see if our team, when put into tough situations, has the will to fight back,” said TMS Head Baseball Coach Brian Bennett. “The game was a huge growth opportunity for our team. We told them after the first inning ‘you don’t need them all back at once. Start chipping away now’! Games like this show every player on our team that we are never out of the game.”

The steady chiseling away of the Rockvale lead paid off as the ‘Cats were able to draw even at 14 in the bottom of the fifth. However, their great comeback was on the verge of being for naught as Rockvale arose from its mid-inning slumber to plate a single run in the top of the sixth, regaining the lead and holding it until the bottom of the seventh inning with one out on the board for the ‘Cats.

Down a run, Patrick Riddle stepped to the plate and slapped a double to centerfield which scored the tying run in the home half of the seventh, setting the stage for Jeffrey to knock home the walk-off hit to win the game off a 1-2 count and complete the stunning comeback.

Jeffrey went two-for-four from the plate on the night, with three runs batted in as one of his hits was a triple. Riddle was two-for-three at the dish, knocking in one while scoring three runs himself with one of his hits being the game tying double. Brody Howard was two-for-three with one run knocked in while scoring two himself.