The third time was the charm for the Red Bank Lions.
It was do or die time for the baseball Lions in the first round of the District 6-AAA tournament being played at Hixson’s John Plumlee Stadium/Mike DeBord Field Wednesday evening and the Lions lived to play at least two more games.
Hixson had beaten Red Bank in the first two games of the season, including the second one by a single run in a game that went 10 innings. But the Lions won the third and most important meeting as they rallied not once, but twice to beat the Wildcats by a final score of 7-4.
Red Bank, now 13-16 overall, will face number one seed East Hamilton in the second game at Hixson on Thursday in a best-of-three series while Hixson’s season ends at 18-13. Third-seeded Signal Mountain faces number two Soddy Daisy in Thursday's first game at 5.
Wednesday’s game started out as a pitcher’s duel between Red Bank’s Logan Denton and Hixson’s Cameron Butler, but it turned into a battle of survival as both teams made a bunch of errors, the Lions charged with five and Hixson with four.
But on a day when the team with the most runs wins, it was a day of celebrating for Red Bank as they took the lead for good with two runs in the fifth inning before adding four more in the sixth for good measure.
“This has been a roller-coaster season for us, but we went up today,” Red Bank head coach Glen Wagner said to his team as they gathered in shallow right field after the game.
“Little things turned into big things today, but we never quit punching. We’ve been involved in a lot of big innings this spring, but most of the time, they’ve gone against us. But I couldn’t be any more proud of these guys as they’ve put Red Bank baseball back on the map in Chattanooga,” Wagner added with a smile.
Denton was the winning pitcher as he went the distance, as he allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out eight and walking two. Only two of those runs were earned as Hixson scored twice in the seventh courtesy of three Red Bank errors.
“I just tried to do what I’ve been taught to do. I could have done better, but I gave it everything I had,” the 17-year-old junior said afterward.
“This may have been the most exciting game I’ve pitched, but definitely not my best,” he added.
Hixson took a 1-0 lead in the first inning before Red Bank tied it in the third. Another solo run in the fourth extended Hixson’s lead to 2-1 before the Lions took the lead for the first time with two runs in the fifth.
But with the outcome still hanging in the balance in a 3-2 game, the Lions put the game out of reach with four runs in the sixth, batting around while only getting two hits. The Lions also benefitted from three walks and two Hixson errors as the wheels just completely came off for the Wildcats at that point.
Things got interesting in the bottom of the seventh as Cameron Butler led off with a single for the Wildcats. That was the only hit they had, but were able to score twice as the Lions made three errors.
Noah Garland flied to center for the third out as everyone on the Red Bank side had a huge sigh of relief.
Hixson has played really good baseball most of the season, so it was somewhat frustrating for head coach Colton Green to watch as they play what could have been their worst game of the year.
“That’s just post-season baseball, but it you don’t make the routine plays, that’s how it goes,” Green said later.
“You just hope the breaks go your way, but everyone except the state champion feels the way we’re feeling right now. I’m really proud of these guys as we flipped the season from a year ago to win 18 games. And I’m really going to miss our three seniors, Cameron Butler, Jase Moses and Maddox Trotter, as they were a pleasure to coach and helped us turn things around,” Green added.
Jack Barkeloo had the big bat for Red Bank as his first single in the third drove in the first run for the Lions while his second single in the sixth drove in two more.
Denton also had an RBI-single while Cordell Howard and Sean Brune both scored twice.
Butler and Rucker were the only two Hixson players with two hits as the Wildcats ended the game with seven.
Butler was the losing pitcher after allowing all seven runs on just five hits while striking out nine and walking four.
RED BANK 001 024 0 – 7 5 5
HIXSON 100 100 2 – 4 7 4
Denton and S. Brune; Butler, Trotter (6) and Lott.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)