GREENEVILLE — The stage is set for an epic baseball battle between Hawkins County rivals Cherokee and Volunteer — and this one, as they say, is for all the marbles.
The Chiefs and Falcons will meet in the losers' bracket final of the District 2-3A baseball tournament on Friday (May 3) at 5 p.m. at Tusculum's Pioneer Park. On the line is a spot in the 7:30 p.m. championship game against Greeneville and a berth in next week's Region 1-3A baseball tournament.
Simply put, one of them will move on; the other's season will end.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Falcons, who lost to the Chiefs in the final conference game of the season, fell all the way to the No. 4 seed in the tournament and had to beat Claiborne 12-2 in the play-in game on Wednesday afternoon just to get into the double-elimination bracket. They then lost to top-seeded Greeneville 5-2 in Wednesday's nightcap to fall into the losers' bracket, forcing them into an elimination game on Thursday against Grainger.
Volunteer won its elimination game 4-2, thanks in large part to the defensive play of shortstop Isaiah Bowery who turned a bases-loaded double play in the bottom of the seventh inning to hold the Grizzlies at bay.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, finished second in the regular season and beat No. 3 seed Grainger 15-5 on Wednesday to advance to the winners' bracket final against top-seeded Greeneville on Thursday night. Like the Falcons on Wednesday, the Chiefs had one bad inning against the Greene Devils and it cost them. Greeneville exploited Cherokee's mistakes for three runs in the fifth and held on for a 4-2 victory to derail another solid pitching performance by senior Keaton Lawson.
With the win over Cherokee, Greeneville secured a spot in Friday's District 2-3A championship game and a berth in next week's Region 1-3A tournament.
The fourth meeting this season between Cherokee and Volunteer will decide who goes with them.
The winner of the 5 p.m. elimination game between the Hawkins County rivals will play on and meet the Greene Devils at 7:30 p.m. (Friday, May 3) and secure a spot in next week's regional tournament. If either team were to beat Greeneville on Friday night in the championship game, it'd force the "if necessary" game in the double-elimination tournament on Saturday at noon to crown a district champion and determine the seeding for regionals.
We'll have complete coverage of the tournament including photos and interviews in the Midweek edition of the Rogersville Review.
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