We had to wait until Saturday for game two of the much-anticipated “Battle Of Bedford” series between Cascade and Community because of weather, and the Champions lived up to their name in an impressive 8-1 road victory to improve to 3-1 in District 9-AA play.

Community’s starting pitching once again kept them close for the majority of the game, but the Vikings just couldn’t take advantage of their opportunities at the plate to challenge Cascade enough on the scoreboard. 

The game was scoreless through the first three innings as Community freshman Wes Haley went back-and-forth with Cascade senior Zach Crosslin.

Wes Haley (14) pitched 4.0 innings with 7 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 5 hits.

Then, Cascade was able to push across two runs in the top of the third after a Logan Green one-out single followed by a stolen base led to a Logan Pulley RBI double. Pulley would come home to score after stealing third and drawing a high throw from the catcher, Beech, to double Cascade’s lead to 2-0.

However, Community fought back in the home half of the inning, loading the bases with nobody out against Crosslin. Back-to-back singles from Harris and Davis followed with a walk to Nick Evans led to the Vikes best chance to score with Kaleb Maillett coming up to the plate.

Maillett flew out to left, scoring one run, but with runners on first and second with one out, Crosslin still had work to do. Jackson Roberts laid down a bunt next, sending Davis to third, but becoming the second out in the process. Sacrifice bunting with one out took away the possibility of a big inning for the hometown Vikes, but they still were relying on their catcher, Beech to come through with a hit to tie the game.

Unfortunately for Community, Crosslin struck out Beech in four pitches, ending any possibility of a second run. That was the closest the Vikings got to scoring all day against Cascade pitching, and after the visitors responded with three runs in the top of the fifth against reliever Thomas Bowling, the result was never in doubt. 

It started with a walk – as most big innings tend to – followed by a HBP, and after a Logan Green bunt led to a Community error that scored Jordan Childress, Logan Pulley drew a walk to load the bases.

Logan Green (3) went 2-3 with one RBI on Saturday.

The next batter, James Magee, flew out to Maki Fleming in centerfield, and after Sawyer Lovvorn came out to score, a throwing error to third base trying to nab Green from the catcher Beech allowed Green to score as well to make it a 5-1 game going into the bottom of the fifth. 

The Champions would tack on one run in the sixth and two in the seventh as Crosslin settled back into a groove on the mound. Lovvorn came out to record the final three outs with an 8-1 lead, and after giving up a leadoff single, he induced a game-ending double play to seal the seven-run victory for Cascade as they clinched the series against Community.

Zach Crosslin finished with 6.0 innings pitched for Cascade, only giving up three hits and one run while striking out eight and walking four.

Wes Haley went 4.0 innings for Community, giving up five hits and four runs while striking out seven and only walking one. Community finished with five errors as a team.

The Vikings fall to 0-2 in district play and 8-8 overall with a district series against Grundy County starting on Monday due up.

Cascade improves to 9-5 (3-1) on the year, and will take a weeklong break from district play before they play Chapel Hill starting on April 15th.