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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelby County Wildcats made Rocky Top their home sweet home for three days of their spring break and came back down south with a pair of wins over teams hailing from the Volunteer State.

Shelby County finished tournament play at Knoxville’s Sweetwater High School with a 2-2 record, defeating the McMinn County Cherokees 8-7 in eight innings and the Boyd-Buchanan Buccaneers 8-0 in six innings on Wednesday, March 26.

Those victories came in between a pair of losses to the Coalfield Yellow Jackets 9-4 on Tuesday, March 25 and the host Sweetwater Wildcats 7-5 on Thursday, March 27.

In the first game of the week against Coalfield, Shelby County got off to a strong start thanks to a solo shot from Cooper Pennington in the first inning. However, a two-out rally from the Jackets in the top of the second led to six runs and a big 6-1 deficit to overcome.

The Wildcats drew back within three after capitalizing on a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the third and then made it a 6-4 game in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a Cale Blevins sacrifice bunt.

However, Coalfield ended any hope of a comeback with a three-run top of the seventh to take the 9-4 win.

Colby Matherson and Ethan Hall each had 2-for-4 days as Matherson earned two runs and Hall had one. Pennington and Blevins secured two RBI each in 1-for-2 showings.

The next day’s against McMinn County mirrored the tournament opener in multiple ways. First, the Wildcats scored the opening runs, this time off a Davis Ruston RBI single followed by a steal of home by Campbell Aderholt for the 2-0 lead in the top of the second.

Then came a big inning from the Cherokees as a pair of RBI doubles gave them a 4-2 lead at the end of the second.

Blevins quickly cut the deficit to one in the top of the third before Shelby County rallied for the lead in the top of the fifth. After a one-out walk from Matherson, an RBI double from Nate Byrne tied up the game at 4-4 ahead of a go-ahead RBI single from Pennington.

Three batters later, Ruston increased the lead to 6-4 with his second RBI single of the game.

McMinn County immediately responded in the bottom of the fifth with two-run home run to tie the game back up at 6-6. That score line held through the end of the seventh inning to send both teams into extra innings.

After a lead-off error and one-out single gave the Wildcats runners on the corners, Tucker Busby stole home for the go-ahead run. Pennington followed that up with an RBI double on the very next pitch to give his team a two-run cushion to defend.

That extra run proved crucial as the Cherokees loaded up the bases in the bottom half of the inning and gave up a run of a bases-loaded hit by pitch. However, Shelby County then caught a runner trying to steal home for the second out and forced a fly out for the 8-6 win.

Blevins went 3-for-4 at the plate with a walk, an RBI and a run. Ruston finished 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI, Skylar Smith was 2-for4, Pennington went 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and a run and Byrne finished 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI.

Matherson got the win by pitching the final two innings and allowing just one run off one hit and three walks.

Later that day against Boyd-Buchanan, Pennington settled into a dominant rhythm on the mound. He secured a no-hitter across six shutout innings and struck out 10 batters while walking five.

Shelby County capitalized off that no-hit performance with a big day at the plate, starting with RBI singles from Byrne and Blevins in the top of the first inning before a Hunter King fly out took the 3-0 lead.

After a scoreless second, the Wildcats loaded up the bases with back-to-back singles to lead off the inning and an intentional walk two batters later as the Bucs tried to force the double play.

Two batters later, a balk brought a runner home before an error kept the inning alive long enough for Smith to steal home for the 6-0 lead.

From there, Blevins extended the lead to 7-0 in the top of the fourth with a Blevins solo home run ahead of an RBI triple in the top of the sixth that capped off the 8-0 no-hit win.

Blevins finished a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs and two RBI. Ruston was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, Byrne finished 2-for-4 with a run and Smith went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run.

Shelby County finished the week with a back-and-forth game against Sweetwater. After a Pennington solo home run in the top of the first, Sweetwater tied the game up with an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning.

Byrne and Pennington retook a 3-1 lead with back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the second before Sweetwater scored six-straight runs. The first two came off a game-tying two-run single in the bottom of the second before a passed ball and a bases-loaded walk gave the hosts a 5-3 lead.

Sweetwater then hit a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead to 7-3.

While Shelby County got a run off a Blevins RBI single and a Smith fly out in the top of the sixth, it wasn’t enough to tie the game, giving Sweetwater the 7-5 win.

Pennington finished 2-for-2 with a walk, two RBI and two runs.

The Wildcats are now 12-10 on the season and will look to improve on their 2-0 area mark when they face Briarwood Christian. Shelby County will host the Lions on Tuesday, April 1 at 4:30 p.m. ahead of a doubleheader at Briarwood Christian School on Thursday, April 3 at 4:30 p.m.