Moments that defined Spring Fling for Murfreesboro area athletes

The Murfreesboro area came away with three state championships and four runner-up trophies during Spring Fling 2019.

Here are five events that defined Spring Fling for area athletes:

Giving a little more

Trying to figure out ways to be even faster and more successful, the Blackman 4x100 relay team of Quincy Elder, Micaleous Elder, Todd Lark and Adonis Otey did some adjusting prior to the sectional meet.

Micaleous Elder, one of the fastest sprinters in the state, decided he would take a little more of the load as the second leg. It worked wonders, as the team finished first in the sectional meet and then captured the Large Division state championship.

"If I made our first leg run (only) 80 meters, I can get the lead, and the rest can maintain," said Elder, who placed second in the 100-meter dash and third in the 200-meter dash. "During the sectional, I scooted back some (making the first leg have to run less distance)."

Who needs temporary fences?

Siegel softball senior Caitlyn McCrary has been known for some towering home runs during her four-year career.

The Tennessee signee blasted four homers during the Class AAA state softball tournament.

One of those came Wednesday night at McKnight Park when she knocked a shot into the parking lot.

Two of the homers came Friday at Starplex, which uses temporary fences for high school measurements. The fields there have fences as deep as 300 feet.

Both of McCrary's Friday bombs easily cleared the temporary fences and bounced to the original fences.

Keeping up with the Larges

Central Magnet administrators and coaches were wary when the TSSAA devised a plan to have Large and Small divisions in selected sports – the Tigers would be placed in the Large Division – beginning in 2017-18.

Since that time, however, the Tiger teams have performed very well against the state's largest schools.'

Spring Fling was no exception, as the Tigers boys tennis team reached the state championship match before falling to Brentwood 4-1.

Central Magnet's Nathan Zou also earned a state runner-up trophy in boys singles, falling to Brentwood's Donovan Janicek, a player he had beaten two days earlier in the team finals.

The Lady Tigers tennis team also reached the state tournament, falling to powerful Brentwood in the semifinals.

Freshman ties record

It's not common to see a freshman be a big contributor for a Class AAA baseball team during a state tournament run.

Riverdale freshman Brantley Bamberg was last week.

Bamberg tied a state tournament record with five doubles. Perhaps more impressively is the fact he had nine consecutive hits during one stretch (TSSAA doesn't keep records on consecutive hits).

The designated hitter went 4-for-4 during a 5-4 win over Arlington on Wednesday morning then went 4-for-4 again later in the day in a win over Independence. His first at-bat during a 4-3 loss to Bradley Central on Thursday was also a hit.

Momentum killer

The Siegel softball team was on fire in a 10-1 win over Jefferson County in the first of two championship games Friday at Starplex .

However, a lengthy break followed. The first game ended about 4:40 p.m.; the second championship game wasn't scheduled to be played until 6:30 p.m.

Some thought, with no other softball games being played (the remaining divisions didn't need "if necessary" games), that officials would just move the start time up for the second game.

That wasn't the case. Jefferson County, using the same pitcher (Catelyn Riley) who allowed nine of the 10 runs in the previous game, shut out Siegel in the finale to earn the state title.

The Lady Patriots dashed Siegel's momentum instantly, scoring two in the top of the first in a 3-0 win.

Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.

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