Bradley Central roared to a doubleheader sweep in District 6-4A semi-final action to advance to its sixth straight league finals, Thursday at the McKenzie Baseball Complex.
The 17-1 and 20-2 verdicts that ended the season for the Howard Hustlin’ Tigers of Coach Jonathon Johnson, who is trying to build a foundation for his team.
The 21st-ranked Bears (23-7) have been on a tear since opening the season in March with five consecutive losses before they began to exert their strength on the mound combined with solid defense and timely hitting to win 23 of their past 25 games.
Weather permitting, Bradley, which has won eight of the last 10 district crowns, was supposed to host second-seeded Ooltewah Owls (9-20) in the district title game after presstime Friday.
The Owls eliminated the Coach Shaw Gamble's East Hamilton Hurricanes with wins on Wednesday (6-5) and Thursday (3-1).
If Friday's game is washed out the teams will try again Saturday afternoon, elsewise the contest will move to Monday evening.
The District 6 champion will host the Region 3-4A Tournament scheduled to start on Friday, May 10.
Game 1
BEARS 17
TIGERS 1
It was more of the same for these two teams with the Bears outscoring Howard (2-25) by a combined score of 82-3 in five games played this season as the talented Bears with four seniors signed to college scholarship showing why they were crowned regular season champs.
The Tigers grabbed a surprising 1-0 lead in the first inning with Mississippi Valley State signee shortstop Camron James rounding the bases after leading off the game with a single and eventually scoring on another single by Devon Holten-McKinney for the Tigers only two hits of the game.
James recently became the first Howard baseball player to sign a NCAA D1 baseball scholarship.
The Bears quickly restored order in the second inning as they batted around twice with 13 players touching home using a combination of nine walks, one hit batsman, one Tiger error, and four Bear hits leading to the onslaught.
Bradley added three more runs in the third and another single run in the fourth for the 17-1 final.
The Bears would punch out eight hits by eight different players, but control problems for the Tiger pitchers led to 15 free passes.
Cleveland State signee Hank Adams, UTC football signee Luke Keith, plus juniors Jaxon Humble and Colby Stott, each stroked a double, the first of which also plated a pair of teammates.
Bryan College signee Josh Leek and senior Teigan Cassada also knocked in a pair.
Bear senior starter Hunter Jordan picked up the win for the Bears with three innings of two-hit ball. Junior Jonathon Alomar and sophomore Tyler Cook each pitched a perfect inning of relief to close out the game.
Game 2
BEARS 20
TIGERS 2
Bradley kept the momentum flowing in the nightcap as they batted first and staked starting junior pitcher Bronson Stone to a 5-0 lead before he took the mound.
The Bears also added five more runs in each of the second, third and fifth innings of the rout.
Stone would combine with Leek and Cleveland State signee Brody Casteel for a no-hitter, striking out a total of five Tigers and issuing a trio of free passes.
The Bears would have just nine hits of their own but control problems continued to plague the Tiger hurlers, as they issued eight walks while also putting nine Bears on base after being hit with pitches.
Cassada and Keith each launched two-run homers for the Bears, with Cassada also adding a triple to pace the Bear offensive attack with four runs batted in.
Cook also stroked a double.
Keith also had a big night at the plate as he went 3-for-4, with three runs scored and three batted in for the Bears.
In their highest scoring game of the season, 10 different Bears would be credited with at least one RBI, including a pair each from Leek and Cook.
