The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles picked up a a huge road District 9-AAAA win on Tuesday night against the Columbia Central Lions, 7-4, after 10 innings.

The Golden Eagles trailed 4-0 going into the seventh inning and it looked like all hope was lost, but the resiliency of Shelbyville came through with a four-spot to send the game into extra innings.

Matthew Thomas came in to relieve Burton Moore, who went 6.0 shutout innings on 111 pitches, only giving up three hits while striking out eight batters and walking four. The Golden Eagles took full advantage, working great at-bats to the tune of drawing four walks and collecting a pair of base hits against Thomas to tie the game at 4-4 before the Lions could even record two outs. Walker Potts was quickly brought to the mound, and he was able to get the final two outs of the inning. 

Palmer Edwards got the start on the mound for Shelbyville, going 5.1 innings on 96 pitches and giving up six hits, four runs – two unearned – and four strikeouts with four walks. He also gave up a home run to Konnor Bowden. 

Blake Bone came on in relief first, throwing 3.1 hitless shutout innings on 33 pitches, only issuing a pair of free passes while striking out one batter. He was pulled for Ashton Worley for the final 1.1 innings, and Whorley only gave up one hit himself and tallied a strikeout, earning the win in the process.

Columbia jumped on Edwards early for a pair of runs to take a 2-0 lead after the first inning, and they doubled their lead in the third inning all while holding Shelbyville scoreless. The Golden Eagles looked like they would be regretting all the runners stranded on base – 18 in total once the game ended – but the visitors were able to shock the home crowd with a four-run explosion in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 4-4.

The score would stay 4-4, despite the 11 walks drawn and nine hits tallied for the game by Shelbyville, until the 10th inning. Walker Potts, who got Columbia into extras in the first place, finally started to lose his touch. He finished with 68 pitches and 3.1 innings pitched, but it was the three unearned runs given up in the 10th inning that doomed the Lions. He gave up four hits, a trio of walks, and tallied three strikeouts. 

Columbia was unable to recover in the home half of the tenth, as Shelbyville pitching continued their strong night in shutting out the hosts to secure the win. After scoring four runs in the first three innings, the Lions didn’t score again, stranding 11 baserunners in the process. 

Shelbyville picks up their first district win of the season, and will possibly be credited with a series sweep via forfeit due to Columbia letting their pitcher in game one of the series go over the 120-pitch limit. That ruling is still up in the air, however, so for now, the Golden Eagles improve to 13-10 overall while picking up their first win in District 9-AAAA play.