SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. - With a chance to close out the District 5-A baseball championship, South Pittsburg wasted no time. The Pirates jumped on cross-county rival Whitwell with five first-inning runs and continued pouring it on, scoring multiple runs in each of the first four innings for a 19-0 win Tuesday night.
Sophomore Jared Stone went 3-for-4 with a home run and six RBIs to help South Pittsburg register its fifth consecutive district title and eighth in the past nine seasons. Stone now has a program-record 55 RBIs for the season, which also leads the Chattanooga area.
"He's absolutely been money for us," Pirates coach Brian Paris said. "He's getting some timely hits for us for sure. Our 1-to-4 hitters have been doing a great job of getting on in front of him, and he's doing his job to bring them around.
"We challenged the kids before the game because their pitcher had beaten us earlier this season, so we changed our approach and then came out and set the tone early. To put that five-spot up put a little bit of pressure on them to answer."
Blake Owens allowed just two hits and struck out five for the pitching win. Hagan Cash was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, and Hunter Powers drove in two runs and was 2-for-3 as five Pirates batters finished with multiple hits.
South Pittsburg will host the runner-up from District 6, either Gordonsville or Monterey, in Monday's Region 3-A semifinals.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.