CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Clarksville Academy baseball looked to wrap up the No. 3 seed in the upcoming region tournament when they hosted Davidson Academy Monday at Wes Smith Field.

It was a relatively close contest through the first five innings of play until the Cougars pounced for four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull away with a 7-2 win over the Bears.

“Coming in, I thought our guys were a little lax, thinking we already have the region locked down,” said Clarksville Academy baseball coach Dustin Smith. “Getting the three is huge if you miss the one over on the other side. I told them this game was important whether they believed it or not. I know we already advanced to another week of ball, but if we get this one, we stay away from the number one seed and I think they responded to that.”

Game summary

CA got on the board in the bottom of the first inning after Paris Pridgen started things off with a lead-off triple. Cooper Wallace laced a base hit up the middle, driving in Pridgen to give the Cougars an early 1-0 lead.

After the game, Smith praised the two-sport athlete (basketball and baseball) for his ability to help set the tone for his team on a nightly basis.

“Paris is super athletic,” Smith said. “If he gets on, he can run and steal some bases for us. He’s a great lead-off hitter and a catalyst for our team for a reason.”

In the bottom of the second inning, Davidson County’s starting pitcher was called for a balk to bring home the second run of the game for Clarksville Academy.

Ty Teasley extended the Cougar lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single to left field.

In the top of the fifth inning, Middle Tennessee commit Jared Vetetoe cut the deficit to one run, smashing the ball to the right-center gap for a two-run triple.

Cougar starting pitcher Sam Walker went the distance for the win, tossing a complete game while allowing two runs on five hits and striking out four Bears.

The senior worked out of numerous jams, but none bigger than in the top of the fifth inning when he recorded a strikeout to strand the Bear’s potential game-tying run just 90 feet away from home plate.

“100 percent,” Smith said of how much he was proud of Walker for biting down in tough spots. “This is probably going to be the last time he throws on this field, so we wanted it to be his. We had a couple of times where we had the bullpen up and it seemed like every time we did, he settled down and did a good job.”

CA scratched across their first two runs of the bottom of the sixth inning via an E5 and a passed ball after sophomore Max Cassle moved the baserunners into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt.

Key performers

Walker broke the game open later in the sixth, plating two Cougars on a two-run single to give himself plenty of insurance to work with on the mound.

The two-way talent finished 3-for-4 at the dish, combining with Teasley to drive in four runs on the night.

Richmond Roberts led the Bears with a team-high two hits.

Up next

After rattling off 18 wins in their last 21 games, Smith is feeling confident in where his team is right now before the region tournament gets underway, but knows there is still always room left for improvement.

“Offensively, we can get scrappy at times and sometimes we get too big,” Smith said. “We’re playing hard and that’s all we can ask for is to keep giving good effort. We’ve had that all year year long. Tonight is our 20th win so that is a good milestone for us as well and hopefully we can just keep the momentum going.”

For now, Clarksville Academy (20-9) awaits their opening-round region tournament matchup. The Cougars will eventually get the loser of the Division II-A District 3 finals which will be played Tuesday, May 4 between Grace Christian Academy and MTCS.