Soddy Daisy High School junior Cooper Poe continues to generate a great amount of success on the baseball diamond this season for one of the top-ranked teams in Class 3A.
Poe has been one of the toughest pitchers for opponents to figure out, especially in his relief role for the Trojans — who are ranked No. 5 in Class 3A by MaxPreps.com — having yet to yield an earned run all season.
With a high 80's fastball and a nasty curve ball, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Poe was able to deliver his seventh straight outing without allowing an earned run in Tuesday's 10-5 road victory over Signal Mountain to clinch the District 6-3A regular season title.
Coming on in relief of junior Alexander Pinson, who is 6-0 this season with 52 strikeouts and a sub 2.00 earned run average, Poe escaped a tough situation in the fifth inning after he intentionally walked Signal Mountain slugger Ben Timblin to load the bases with two outs and a 7-5 lead. He reared back to blow a fastball past the Eagles' No. 4 hitter for the third out, which was one of his four strikeouts including a nasty backdoor breaker that caught the batter looking for strike three in the sixth inning.
Poe's final out in his three-inning relief stint came against the state's leader in home runs, as Timblin's deep fly ball came just a few feet from being his 13th home run of the season, and what would have been a three-run shot, after Ty Harper and Bo Cooper singled in the final frame.
"Staying consistent with my workouts, nutrition and eating habits have helped me the most this season," said Poe, who is 4-0 with a 0.46 ERA and 44 strikeouts over 28 2/3 innings this season. "The biggest thing for me is going out there and battling for the guys behind me, because I know they have my back just as much.
"When I am on the mound, every hitter is gong to get my best. Major respect to Ben, he is an absolute stud, but I just got the upper hand this time with my team."
Poe was also lethal in his production at the plate to help Soddy Daisy improve to 25-5 overall and finish 9-1 in the district regular season standings.
Hitting behind senior third baseman Keith Scoggins proved to be key as Scoggins was on fire all day going 4-for-5 at the plate with a pair of runs scored. Poe finished the game with two hits and a game-high five runs batted in to go with his relief work.
"Whenever Coop comes in for relief, we feel confident he will pick us up and help us to victory," winning pitcher Pinson said. "We have a really dangerous team that is definitely state tournament caliber. That is what we are going for this season. No doubt about it."
The Trojans inflicted their greatest damage in the top of the third as they had seven hits and drew three walks to highlight a six-run inning to build a commanding 7-0 lead. A.J. Florio would double in the inning and also scored a team-high three runs in the victory.
Signal Mountain (21-7, 8-2) would score five unanswered runs, which included a monster home run from senior Blake Wolfard, but Poe shut down the threat.
"All of our hard work is being rewarded," Poe said. "We really grinded this offseason and came together more as a team. I feel like if we keep playing to our potential we will continue to have the upper-hand."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.