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Beech lands in district title game with 8-4 win over Station Camp; Gallatin eliminates reigning champion Hendersonville




District 10-4A MVP Derek Chambliss caused chaos on the basepaths in Beech’s late 8-4 win over Station Camp in the district tournament. By Ryan Vinson

The Beech Buccaneers punched their ticket to the District 10-4A tournament championship game with an 8-4 win over the Station Camp Bison on Saturday.

On Monday, Beech will match up with either Station Camp or Gallatin, which will play earlier with a chance to claim the district championship. If the Bucs lose, the same two teams will face off again on Tuesday. Both teams will move on to the Region 5-4A tournament.

“We’re coming for blood,” said Beech senior Jackson Fitzwilson, who recorded the win against Station Camp on Saturday. “We want that win. We’re not going to give them that chance” for a second game.

Fitzwilson pitched six innings against Station Camp, notching 11 strikeouts. He gave up four runs, all on three home runs, but his teammates scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to break open a tight game.

“I was throwing strikes and letting my defense work for me,” Fitzwilson said. “If they made contact, I didn’t really let it get to my head. I just kept throwing.”

“I thought he did really, really well,” Beech coach Kris McWhirter said of Fitzwilson. “He’s been that way for us all year. 

“Hats off to Station Camp. (Fitzwilson) normally doesn’t throw that many pitches. I looked up and he was at 90-something in the fifth. He’s normally not like that. But hats off to Station Camp. He’d get two quick strikes on them and then next thing you know he’s in an eight-pitch battle. 

“But you’ve got to give it to him,” McWhirter said. “He didn’t give in. He didn’t let up; he just kept pounding the zone.”

The Bucs took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run home run by shortstop Lance Angell, who finished the game with three RBIs.

Station Camp countered with three runs in the top of the third on a solo home run by Sam Mullins and a two-run shot by Carter Casabella.

Beech evened the score in the bottom of the third when Derek Chambliss reached after he was hit by a Matthew Massey pitch. Chambliss stole second, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Trent Sheely and scored on Angell’s sacrifice fly.

The Bucs regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth on RBI singles by Jackson Earls and Maddox Galbreath.

Massey cut the Bison deficit to 5-4 with a two-out solo home run in the top of the sixth.

In the bottom of the inning, Beech used some small ball to plate three and put the game on ice. Chambliss drove in one run on a squeeze bunt, and when the throw to first ended up in right field, Galbreath came around to score a second run and Chambliss ended up at second. 

Sheely reached on a bunt single, moving Chambliss to third. He then broke for second, Massey stepped off the mound and threw to second, but the throw was in the dirt and bobbled, allowing Chambliss to score before Casabella tagged out Sheely in a rundown.

“Massey’s a great pitcher and you’ve got to get on him any way you can,” McWhirter said. “It was late, a 5-4 ballgame, you had the bottom of the lineup up. He was getting up there with pitches, so he’s kind of more around the zone. He didn’t have his best stuff, so we felt like that was the plan to go out there and put some pressure on.”

“Our team just kept hitting,” Fitzwilson said. “Even when we got down, we just kept … pushing and pushing and pushing. When we got the lead, I knew we were going to be good because I knew I was going to keep throwing strikes, and I knew my defense had my back.”

Trent Sheely (right) tallied three hits in Beech’s win over Station Camp, which secured a region tournament berth. By Christina Moore

“The team, right now they’re so locked in they don’t believe any lead is unattainable,” McWhirter said. “Up or down, they’re going to play the same … even keel, don’t let the momentum of either team get us too high or too low.”

Station Camp’s offense was led by Mullins with two hits and an RBI. Massey also recorded two hits and an RBI, Brandon Gillespie collected two hits and scored a run, and Casabella notched a hit and two RBIs for the Bison

Sheely led Beech with three hits and a run scored, and Earls and Galbreath were both 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI.

“We battled, we had a chance, we were within one; we just didn’t keep outs in the sixth,” said Station Camp coach Korey Heppeard. “You give up a big number especially after you just got one to cut it in half with the top of the order coming up the next inning. Then we get the leadoff runner on. The difference between being down four and being only down one, that completely changes the game.”

The Bison will now face the Gallatin Green Wave in an elimination game on Monday. The winner will secure a place in the region tournament and face Beech for the district championship.

Gallatin 4, Hendersonville 3

Gallatin catcher Mitch Victor reached safely in all four of his plate appearances against Hendersonville. By Phil Stauder

The Gallatin Green Wave kept their season alive with a 4-3 win over the Hendersonville Commandos in a District 10-4A tournament game Saturday at Beech High School.

“The key was timely hitting and really good pitching by our guys,” Gallatin coach Mark Wilson said. “Luke Simpson came in and got the final six outs. He’s kind of untested, but we knew he would come in (for) big situations, and his pitching style is what we needed.”

Gallatin built a 4-0 lead and then held off a late Hendersonville rally to secure the win.

The Green Wave opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. Mitch Victor, who finished the game with two hits and two walks, was on third with two outs when Abe Goolsby hit a ground ball to Hendersonville senior shortstop Braylon Cline, an all-district player that fielded it cleanly. 

But Cline injured his arm on the throw, which went awry, allowing Victor to score and Goolsby to reach first safely. 

Another error by the Hendersonville infield allowed two more runs to score in the frame to give Gallatin a 3-0 lead.

“The first inning, our shortstop got injured making a play, which would have been the third out, no runs scored,” said Hendersonville coach Justin Martin. “It’s an unfortunate event for the young man who’s played brilliantly all season long.

“We were able to kind of minimize the damage after that, but it was kind of a big blow to the team. To see one of their teammates go down, and one of the leaders go down, made it hard.”

Goolsby walked to lead off the top of the third inning and scored his second run of the game on a ground ball back to the pitcher to give Gallatin a four-run lead.

Green Wave starting pitcher Ty Selchow held the Commandos in check until the bottom of the fourth, when Cole Ullrich, who had doubled to open the inning, scored on a Lake Morris single.

The Commandos added two more in the bottom of the sixth to trim Gallatin’s lead to 4-3. Ullrich and Morris were again involved in the action. 

Ullrich led off the inning with a walk, reached second on a pick-off attempt that got past the first baseman and went to third on a single by Morris. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Varboncoeur, and Morris later scored when Payton Peterson reached on an error.

Simpson came in to snuff out the comeback attempt and close the game with a save.

Victor, the senior catcher for Gallatin, reached base in all four of his plate appearances.

“We’ve just got to hit,” said Victor, a Roane State Community College signee. “Put the bat on ball and hopefully they make a mistake or we get it through.”

“Mitch has been solid for us for three years,” Wilson said. “He’s the guy that makes us go.”

Goolsby scored two runs, Christian Porter had a hit and a run scored, and Bruce had a hit and an RBI for Gallatin. Selchow gave up one run on four hits and three walks in four innings. 

Ullrich led Hendersonville with two doubles, a walk and two runs scored. Morris was 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Peterson pitched five innings in relief, giving up three hits and one walk while striking out five. 

The second-seeded Commandos won the district and region championship and reached the state tournament last spring, but their season came to an end with losses to Station Camp and Gallatin in the district tournament.

“We battled, we fought and we gave ourselves a chance to win,” Martin said of his team. “I’m super proud of them.”

Hendersonville saw its season finish in the District 10-4A tournament on Saturday. By Phil Stauder