Jackson area Spring Fling: 5 things to watch

MURFREESBORO – Nearly every baseball and softball team in the Jackson area that entered Wednesday play in their respective state tournaments are still alive heading into Thursday.

With those teams playing in addition to the state girls track meet and singles and doubles tournaments cranking up in tennis, there is plenty to watch for at Spring Fling today.

Here are the five biggest things to watch for as the day progresses:

University School of Jackson baseball: The Bruins are in the state championship. They play Evangelical Christian School at 10 a.m. at Reese Smith Field on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University. They need to win twice to claim the championship. They led ECS going into the seventh inning on Wednesday, so the Bruins have a shot.

McNairy Central softball: The Lady Chargers are all about making history, because that’s what they’ve done with every win they’ve picked up the past couple weeks. The Lady Bobcats will play Creek Wood at 5:30 p.m. at Starplex in the winners’ bracket final. A win puts McNairy in the championship Friday afternoon. If they don’t win today, they will need to win once Friday morning to get to the championship and are already assured of a top-three finish in state.

Local tennis standouts facing off: Trinity Christian Academy sophomore Ben Sidwell has been the No. 1 player for the Lions the last two years. South Gibson’s Jacob Escue has been one of the top performers in the area, having not lost a regular match in two years. One of them will make it to the Class A-AA boys singles semifinals, but one will definitely go home today. They meet in the state quarterfinals at noon today at Old Fort Park.

Baseball, softball teams avoiding elimination: Peabody and Lexington baseball along with Jackson Christian and Scotts Hill softball all entered Wednesday’s play a loss away from elimination. Scotts Hill run-ruled their opposition to stay alive, while the Lady Eagles’ win was a little more dramatic with a one-run victory. Both baseball teams won twice to keep their championship dreams alive. We know for sure one of the softball teams will be eliminated today, because three of four teams currently in the losers’ bracket will be eliminated before the end of the day. Scotts Hill plays Meigs County at 10 a.m. Jackson Christian plays Goodpasture at 11:30 a.m. Peabody has a rematch with Goodpasture at 2 p.m. at Middle Tennessee Christian School. Lexington will play Christian Academy of Knoxville at 2 p.m. at Blackman High School.

Girls track meet: There are a few female athletes from the area competing for state championships in the girls track meet at MTSU. South Side, South Gibson, Dresden and Adamsville all have competitors in the championship, and they’re in the top eight in the state since that’s how many qualify for each event in the final meet of the season.

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at jacksonsunsports.