After being held to just one hit and no runs in the opening game of the TSSAA Sectional series, 17th-ranked Bradley Central bounced back to one-hit No. 7 Riverdale in the nightcap to force a third game Friday to decide who goes to the Spring Fling.
While the Warriors took Game 1 by an 8-0 tally, the Bears overcame four errors and a half dozen free passes for an 8-4 win in the nightcap.
"First game couldn’t get settled on either side, but did a great job to bounce back and get the win in the second game to push it to a Game 3," proclaimed veteran Papa Bear" Travis Adams.
"Jonathan Alomar was huge throwing five no-hit innings in Game 2. We've gotta have all hand on deck heading into Game 3! "Proud of are boys overcoming adversity and getting it done," he praised.
With Riverdale having graduation ceremonies Friday evening, the rubber game of the series for all the marbles was set for after presstime Friday, weather permitting.
The TSSAA State Championships will run from Tuesday through Friday of next week as part of Spring Fling, in Murfreesboro.
Game 2
BEARS 8
WARRIORS 4
After being shutout in the opener, Bradley jumped on top quickly in the finale with Lee University signee Alex Brew opening the game with a walk before moving to third on a Jaxon Humble single.
Although he went 3-for-4 at the dish, UTC football Luke Keith got the first of four RBI with a sac fly to plate Brew.
Riverdale answered with one of its own in the bottom of the inning without benefit of a hit when Caleb Jordan walked the line, moved to second on a ground out and swiped third before Tennessee Tech bound Jaxon Pridgen brought him in with a sac fly.
The Bears added another run in the top of the second when Northwestern football signee Tito Williams drew a free pass and later scored when Humble received the fourth walk of the at bat.
The boys from Murfreesboro took the lead in the bottom of the second with their lone hit of the contest, a walk, a sac bunt and a throwing error allowed two runs to come in.
Riverdale added its final run of the contest in the bottom of the third when a free pass, a pair of Bears miscues and a sac fly gave the visitors a 4-2 edge.
Bradley was able to get one of the scores back in the top of the fourth when Brew beat out an infield hit, moved to second on a ground out and came around to score on a Keith single.
The big inning for the Bears came in the fifth when five hits and a pair of "freebies" allow them to put a 4-spot on the board.
Williams got the party started with a one-out single before back-to-back walks to Bryan College signee Josh Leek and fellow senior Teigan Cassada.
Williams came home on a wild pitch, before Brew plated Leek with another infield hit, plus a pair of wild pitches accounted for the first two runs.
Humble and Keith both followed with run-scoring singles, with a bases-load line drive snag turned into a double play prevented more runs from coming in.
With Alomar shutting the Warriors down on the mound, Bradley tacked on another run in the top of the seventh when Humble doubled and score on another hit by Keith.
After sophomore Tyler Cook gave up just one hit, but had some control problems with four walks in the opening two frames, Alomar came on for the final five, earning the big victory by holding the potent Riverdale offense at bay.
Like Keith, Humble went 3-for-4 at the plate, plus drew a walk, while Brew was 2-for-2 with a pair of "freebies" and three runs scored.
Alomar helped his own cause, going 2-for-3 at the dish, while Williams and Leek rounded out the dozen Bear hits.
Riverdale used five pitchers in the contest with all but one giving up at least one run, while also combining to hand out nine free passes.
Game 2
WARRIORS 8
BEARS 0
Scoring every other inning, Riverdale caught the hosts flatfooted and Motlow State bound Camden Sholar faced just one over the minimum in a complete-game, 84-pitch effort.
A lone one-out infield hit by Humble, plus a pair of walks to Cook and Humble were his only hiccups as he struck out a half dozen.
Riverdale put up a solo run in the first, two in the third, a single score in the fifth and a 4-spot in the top of the seventh for the runaway win.
The visitors had seven hits and three free passes, plus took advantage of a trio of Bear defensive errors.
