While the Warren County Pioneer baseball squad had been road warriors this postseason, the road to the state tournament was blocked by the Riverdale Warriors Friday night, with the perennial powerhouse sending the Pioneers home for the year, 9-3.
“I’m happy with the way our players competed,” said Pioneer coach Adam Childs following the season-ending loss. “We got further than most everyone thought we would and I was proud we finished in the state’s top 16 teams.”
It was the opening inning Friday that told the tale for the Pioneers (21-19), who advanced to the brink of the state tournament by defeating Ooltewah, 5-4, Monday night on the road in extra innings before losing the regional final to Walker Valley 10-7 at home Wednesday night.
Walker Valley advanced to the state tournament by beating Tullahoma, 1-0, on Friday.
For the Pioneers, Friday started much like Wednesday did when they surrendered four runs to Walker Valley in the first inning. On Friday, Mother Nature helped end Riverdale’s opening volley which saw the Murfreesboro squad score five first-inning runs.
After a one-hit top of the first for Warren County, the Warriors got to work. Riverdale scored on a sacrifice fly of a runner who had advanced from first to third on a botched pick-off attempt at first by starting pitcher Micah McColloch. A pair of hard hit balls then scored two more Riverdale runners, making it 3-0 before McColloch hit a Riverdale batter and sparked activity in the Pioneer bullpen.
A blast that hugged the third-base line scored two more making it 5-0 just as a bolt of lightning in the distance halted the game for 20 minutes.
While McColloch was able to pick up the strikeout after the short delay to end the inning, the Pioneers went three up, three down in the second and third innings, while Riverdale tagged on two more runs in the bottom of the third, leading to the replacement of McColloch, who gave up seven runs, by Logan McCormack with two down in the third.
McCormack worked to a bases-loaded situation and could have been on the mound when the game was broken wide open if not for a diving catch of a looped flare grabbed by outfielder Brett Mullican to end the inning with the bases juiced.
It was the fourth inning when the Pioneers saw their only ray of light on an otherwise cloudy night, all starting with a Garrison Holmes single and a long shot against the left-field wall by Daulton Foster. A few plays later, Foster was able to score on a wild pitch.
The first Pioneer run was followed by Park Hilliard scoring off an Austin Green single, the shot bringing the Pioneer faithful, which outnumbered the Riverdale home fans, to their feet in hopes of a rally. However, the rally was not to be as a strikeout and ground out ended the inning, leaving the runners stranded and the Pioneers down 7-2.
The fourth-inning rally marked the only threat the Pioneers would have in bridging the gap as Riverdale added a pair of late runs while Warren County plated one more run when Nick Grandey knocked in Brett Mullican with a single in the seventh, leaving the score 9-3.
The loss ends the Pioneer season at 21-19, a season that saw the squad reach deeper in the postseason than it has in 14 years. With the win, Riverdale (30-10) will stay in its hometown to play in the state tournament in Murfreesboro.