Upperman, Stone Memorial Fall In Region 4-3A Baseball Tournament Opening Round; Set To Face Off Saturday At 3 p.m.

By Michael Lindsay

Region 4-3A tournament baseball action got started Friday night in Baxter with Tullahoma and Lawrence County earning opening-round victories over Upperman and Stone Memorial.

Tullahoma opened the afternoon with a 2-1 victory over Upperman. The Bees opened the contest with a Rookie Allison grounder allowing Justin Fallon to score, giving the Bees a 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats were scoreless through 4 innings until a two-out double by Hunter Hogan scored two runs, giving Tullahoma a 2-1 lead. The Wildcats held on from there to clinch a berth in the Region 4-3A championship game at noon.

Stone Memorial fell in Friday’s second game to District 8-3A champion Lawrence County, 9-5.

The Panthers scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning via a Kyle Hinch two-out single, scoring Griffin Templeton and Gage Eldridge. Lawrence County responded with 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 4-2 advantage over the Panthers.

Stone Memorial chipped away with a run in the third and fourth innings to tie the game at 4-4 entering the fifth. Lawrence County retook the lead in the bottom of the frame via a double and wild pitch to lead 6-4.

Templeton pulled the Panthers back within a run in the top of the 6th on a single to score Shaeffer Sitton, making the score 6-5. Stone Memorial would get no closer though as Lawrence County posted three runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 9-5 lead and ultimately the victory.

First pitch for day two of Region 4-3A tournament action is scheduled for noon at Upperman High School. Tullahoma and Lawrence County will face off at noon in the championship game with the winner clinching the championship and a home Class 3A sectional series next week.

Stone Memorial and Upperman will face off in an elimination game at 3 p.m. in the losers’ bracket. The winner will face the loser of Tullahoma/Lawrence County at 6 p.m. in another elimination game, with that winner finishing runner-up in the region. The runner-up will travel for next week’s Class 3A sectional series.