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WCMS teams ready for tourneys
It’s tournament time for the Warren County Middle School teams.
The Pioneer baseball team and Lady Pioneer softball squad will each be taking their swings in the Central Tennessee Conference tournament this week, hoping to bring home titles in what should be competitive fields.
The Pioneers will be first to play, suiting up Monday to take on Shelbyville. Coach Chad Young noted that the first round of the CTC baseball tournament is single elimination, while the advancing teams will then take part in a double-elimination portion.
Warren County (9-8) will get to play on its home field against the Eagles at 5:30 p.m.
“I feel like the guys are ready,” said coach Young. “They have the mentality and the talent to win this thing. We just have to stay humble and play some hard-nose baseball.”
The Pioneers come into the tournament having won their last four CTC games. Warren County played Shelbyville to start the season, splitting the series. The Pioneer won the first game 18-6 before falling 9-4 the next day.
Leaning on solid pitching and timely base hitting has gotten the Pioneers rolling of late.
Brody Womack and Sam Rivers each had shutouts in their last outings on the hill. Womack, who has been the team’s No. 1 starter, has struck out 17 batters in his last 11-plus innings while giving up just two runs. Rivers is rolling as well, allowing just four hits and one run in his last seven innings.
At the plate, lead-off hitter Keynai Bryan has led the charge. Bryan has 11 hits in the team’s last four CTC games, upping his season average to .441. He also has 14 stolen bases this season and has scored 19 times – a team best.
Conner Williams (.357 batting average), Womack (.333) and Tyler ‘T-Bone’ Adams (.314) have also been swinging the bat well for the Pioneers.
The WCMS Pioneers and Lady Pioneers are stocked with talent.
The Lady Pioneers are on similar path while entering the CTC softball tournament, which will be held in Warren County. The Lady Pioneers are 11-4 this season and enter the tournament on a five-game winning streak after ending the regular season with a 9-2 win Friday at Clay County.
“We have a group of girls exited to compete this week,” said WCMS softball coach Joe Damon. “Our defense has been solid in the last several weeks of the season and our approach at the plate has been better throughout the lineup.
“We got some good at-bats at Clay County against two good pitchers in our last game.”
A lot of Warren County’s success this season has started in the circle.
When hurler Ceilee Gudat is clicking, she has been unhittable, literally. Gudat has thrown three no-hitters, giving the Lady Pioneers one of the best arms in the circle in the CTC. Two of those no-hitters came in CTC play, though neither were against first-round opponent Shelbyville.
The Lady Pioneers will start play Wednesday, April 21 at 5 p.m. against the Lady Eagles. With a win, Warren County would play again at 7 p.m. in the winner’s bracket semifinals.
Gudat did have 13 strikeouts while pitching in both Warren County wins against Shelbyville to start the season. The Lady Pioneers swept the series, winning 14-0 and 21-2. Gudat is the likely starter when the Lady Pioneers start the double-elimination tournament.
Warren County, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, can rely on several hitters to do damage at the plate. Lead-off Ky Damon has an unreal .514 batting average and has hits in 13 of the team’s 15 games. Damon leads the team in hits (18), runs (24) and stolen bases (21).
The heart of the order can also rake. Callie Roberts (.472), Maggy Whiles (.457, with the team’s only two home runs) and Lily Rains (.353 and a team-best 17 RBIs) help turn the Lady Pioneers into a scoring machine. Warren County has scored 10 or more runs eight times this season, including four of its last six games (the Lady Pioneers scored nine in the other two contests).
The entire Lady Pioneer starting lineup hits over .300, including MaKenzie Hullett (.391), Gudat (.375), Maddox Adams (.346) and Alexia Ross (.333).
"I am looking forward to taking the field Wednesday to see our improvement from the first few weeks of the season," said coach Damon. "Our intent is to finish this tournament well enough to host a Rutherford County team for a chance to go to first middle school state tournament."
The CTC softball tournament starts locally Monday, April 19 with a pair of games. No. 2 seed Coffee County faces Franklin South at 5 p.m., while White County will take on Franklin North at 7 p.m. Top seed Tullahoma is set to make its tournament debut Thursday, April 22.
The finals are set for Saturday, April 24 at 4 p.m. (an if-necessary game would start at 6 p.m.)