5 takeaways from this week’s Spring Fling

This past week has flown by as teams from across the state gathered in Murfreesboro to decide state champions in the sports of baseball, softball, soccer, tennis and track.

Events began each day at 9 a.m. with competition lasting well into the night.

With so much action going on, Saturday was a day to look back and reflect on everything that transpired throughout the week. And there were things that might not have made a story or been on the front of everybody’s mind in the game-to-game action.

Here are five takeaways from last week’s state tournament:

1Scotts Hill’s postseason run: The Lions finished in fourth place in District 15-A during the regular season behind Jackson Christian, Riverside and Trinity Christian Academy.

That means either 15-A is loaded or Scotts Hill was hot at the right time. The answer is probably a little bit of both.

JC, Riverside and TCA have all reached the state tournament in recent years and made a run.

Scotts Hill baseball wins school’s 1st state title

But Scotts Hill coach Carl Harken put a non-district schedule together to match the tough district schedule to make sure his team was ready for the postseason.

The only team to beat the Lions in the postseason was Jackson Christian in the district and region championships.

The Lions were prepared for almost every situation possible and had seen about every kind of pitch because of that schedule.

Scotts Hill seniors Kainan Maners and Junior Kimmel will be talked about for years to come because of the historic run they helped the Lions make last week.

2Playing through injuries: This week is what high school athletes dream about having the opportunity to participate in.

Some of them had their dreams almost go away because of late season injuries, but they fought and won’t let those injuries stop them from having one more go with their team.

Chester County baseball senior Nick Armour had an injured shoulder, but he was willing to do whatever it took to be on the field from the region tournament through the state tournament.

Chester County softball senior Autumn McDaniel injured her knee in the district tournament and missed the region tournament and sectional game, but McDaniel fought to be back with her team at state. McDaniel got to bat all three games.

Jackson Christian baseball senior Wesley Wester had an injured shoulder through most of the season, but he came back in time for the postseason and refused surgery until the state tournament was over.

University School of Jackson senior Addison Dunn left Jackson healthy, but during the softball team’s batting practice on Tuesday, Dunn was hit in the hand with a pitch and didn’t get to bat like she had all year.

These athletes showed true passion and selflessness.

3Potential in baseball: Four teams from West Tennessee reached the state tournament, and they combined for 10-6 record in Murfreesboro.

All four finished in the top four of their classification. So that shows the potential that is here in West Tennessee. None of the four teams from West Tennessee had any superstars and probably not any players that are going to be taken in the MLB draft in a little over week.

But these players have put in the work and played as a team to get the results they wanted.

None of the three walked into the state tournament, so there were other teams from this area that could have made the trek to Murfreesboro and had a similar result.

So for West Tennessee fans, we are blessed to get to watch this caliber of athlete on a daily basis.

4Family memories: Of course players are going to remember their highlights from this past week and getting to play on the biggest stage, but for some players, they got to make memories with family.

Chester County softball player Paige Pipkin, Milan baseball player Mason Holden and USJ’s Dunn are coached by their fathers, so this week will be something that is talked about for years to come at family gatherings.

University School of Jackson tennis player Cade Reasons brought home two state championships – team and doubles – and he is coached by his step-father Ted Measley, so not the pair got to celebrate twice together.

Markos, Reasons wins doubles again

George and Paul Markos were back on the tennis court together this season after Paul went to Crockett County last year, and the two brothers can now boast that they are state champions. But George will have the upper hand in that sibling rivalry as he also holds three doubles state championships.

The Bartel bothers from Jackson Christian took to the field together for the soccer team. Ethan is a sophomore, and Will is an eighth-grader, but both were in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s quarterfinal match.

5Passing of the track torch: The track team from Jackson Central-Merry has been a constant at the state tournament in recent years and won eight state championships.

The Cougars didn’t make the state tournament this year, and JCM has been closed.

But the track talent hasn’t left Jackson, and that showed on Friday when Liberty’s Rodney Castille won the 300-meter hurdles.

LT's Castille wins 300m hurdle title

The 4x100 meter relay team from Liberty finished seventh, and the 4x400 meter relay team finished fifth. With the athletes coming through Jackson, the Crusaders could be the new consistent contender.

Michael Odom, 425-9754