The Tullahoma High School baseball team currently resides as the second seed in their district with a record of 4-2. On April 20, they will begin a two-game set against the third seed of their district, Franklin County. Here is a preview of the series, along with a summary of how the Wildcats have played of late.

Shelbyville

The Wildcats recently played an out-of-district two-game set against Shelbyville High School and split the series. They lost the first game 6-0 and won the second bout by a score of 11-5.

In the first game against the opposing Golden Eagles, neither of the two teams could get anything going offensively for the majority of the game. Through innings one through four, the two teams combined for five hits and zero runs. Four out of the five hits came from Shelbyville. The lone hit from Tullahoma came from senior Parke Fulks at the top of the first inning.

Ben Quick was the starting pitcher for the Wildcats in game one against Shelbyville, and as he has for the majority of the season, he provided shutdown pitching. He pitched in five of the seven innings, allowing just one run, and had six strikeouts. The bulk of the runs for the Golden Eagles came in the inning after his night on the mound was over, the bottom of the sixth. In the frame, Shelbyville scored five of its six runs, stemming from a mix of multiple extra-base hits and walks. The big frame from Shelbyville was more than enough to give them the win over THS.

In game two against Shelbyville, the Wildcats’ offense looked sharp, as they went on to log a total of 15 hits. Through the following hit total, there were five different THS players with two or more hits in the game: Addian Evans, Nate Wilkerson, Phillip Lemmon, Ben Quick, and JD Schmisseur.

Tullahoma’s highest scoring frame came in the bottom of the third, where they managed to build a 9-2 lead by putting up five runs.

The five runs for THS came from an RBI walk, an RBI sacrifice fly hit by Fulks, and a pair of RBI singles from Lemmon and Wilkerson. Lemmon’s single scored two runs, Wilkerson’s scored one.

THS’ seven-run lead was large enough for them to maintain and officially split the two-game series against Shelbyville in an eventual 11-5 win.

Lincoln County

The Wildcats, much like their game one outing against Shelbyville, had an off day offensively in a 6-0 loss against Lincoln County High School.

Tullahoma held Lincoln to scoring just one run in the first three innings. They were able to work out of some tough jams, including one in the second inning.

In the bottom of the second, the bases were loaded for the opposing Falcons’ offense. The starting pitcher for THS, junior Luke Wilson, under pressure, was able to limit Lincoln to just one run. The third and final out of the frame was caught by freshman left fielder Price Harden.

While the Wildcats were able to escape the following situation without giving up much damage on the scoreboard that same tune did not remain for the game. Lincoln scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth, giving them a 6-0 lead– the eventual final score. THS could not answer the Falcons’ runs, as they managed only three hits in the contest—two from Evans and one from Quick.

Franklin County series preview

The Wildcats’ upcoming two-game series from April 20-21 against Franklin County High School holds heavy stakes. THS is the second seed in their district with a 4-2 record, and FC is the third seed with a 4-2 record. Thus, the following series could hold big implications for the final seeding for the district tournament.

Three Franklin County players whose play could play a major role in the outcome of the series are senior Robert Gardner, junior Layton Jones, and sophomore Avery Jackson. Gardner is batting .314 through 17 recorded games, and Jones is batting .321. They both have two home runs this season. Jackson, through 17 recorded games, has the highest batting average on Franklin County’s roster, as he is batting .407.