Jacob Tackett stops Biggersville as Tupelo Christian evens 1A North Semifinal series with 10-0 win
BELDEN — The Biggersville Lions came to Tupelo Christian Saturday looking to sweep their way into the 1A North Championship.
Jacob Tackett and the Eagles had other plans.
The senior was electric, going the distance in a 10-0, five-inning shutout to even the series with the Lions and send it back to Biggersville for a decisive Game Three, set for 7 p.m. Monday night.
"Last night didn't go the way we wanted it to,” Tackett said. “But tonight was a different story.”
Both teams went scoreless in the first inning after Biggersville starter Landon Overstreet kept Biggersville’s dreams afloat with a ground ball for a 1-2-3 double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
The Lions’ ship started taking on water in the second.
Logan White got it going by drawing a one-out walk, then Foster Palmer, Houston Doss and Jon Paul Yates came through with three-straight singles. Palmer came around to score on a throwing error, and Doss scored easily on a passed ball to give TCPS the 3-0 lead.
Biggersville’s Bubba Harris broke up Tackett’s no-hit bid in the third, but Brooks Seago followed with a grounder to Yates at short and the Eagles turned two to get out of it.
Kanyon Fleenor got the pitch he was looking for on a 3-1 count in the bottom of the inning and launched one over the right field wall to put Tupelo Christian ahead 4-0. Yates brought home another run with a bases-loaded single later in the inning to make it 5-0.
Tupelo Christian coach Shaune Holiday chalked the difference in Game One and Game Two to his team’s focus at home.
"Today, we were focused,” Holiday said. “Last night, they jumped out on us,. Today, we came out swinging the bats and capitalized on their mistakes early."
The Eagles (16-13) picked up two more runs on Biggersville fielding errors in the fourth, and walked it off thanks to the 10-run rule when Oswalt doubled to bring home Yates and Prather.
It just wasn't Biggersville’s night.
Tackett held the Lions (22-5) to just two hits and never issued a walk. Defensively, the Lions had three fielding errors that cost them four runs. Overstreet took the loss on the mound, allowing 10 hits and walking six TCPS batters.
"This is TCPS baseball,” coach Shaune Holiday said. “We have great fan support. Our school gets behind us and our fans get behind us. Monday, we’ve got to bring intensity. We’ve got to throw strikes. We are going on the road, so we got to take their crowd out of the game early. As long as we can play our baseball, I feel we'll be ok."
