WOODBURY, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions (11-4, 1-2) recorded their first win in district play this season in dominant fashion, blanking the Cannon County Lions (8-8 ,2-3), 10-0 after six innings, on Tuesday.

Jayden Hathcock was stellar on the mound for Cascade, throwing a complete 6.0 innings of shutout ball while allowing just two hits and one walk with nine strikeouts on just 84 pitches. 

Landon Smith got the start for Cannon County, lasting 3.0 innings while giving up four runs, three earned, on four hits and four walks with three strikeouts on 78 pitches. Eli Morris came on in relief, throwing 1.2 innings and giving up just a single unearned run on one hit and 24 pitches, but then Andrew Alexander relieved Morris, throwing the final 1.1 innings and giving up five runs, one earned, on one hit and three walks while striking out two. 

In all, Cascade recorded just six hits, but they drew seven walks as a team and even recorded a HBP. Cannon County committed four costly errors in the field that the Champs took advantage of as well.

Cascade opened the game with a leadoff walk drawn by Jordan Childress, and after he stole second, Thomas Demartelaere singled him home for the first run of the night.

In the top of the second inning with Xykaiah Dixon at the plate following a River Maddox walk and a Childress single, Maddox scampered home to score on a delayed double steal to double Cascade’s lead to 2-0.  

Cascade tacked on two more runs in the top of the third following a leadoff double from Wickey Parker eventually led to the Champs loading the bases with nobody out. With Maddox back at the plate, a passed ball on the first pitch allowed Parker to touch home and for Jaxson Milliken to reach third. After Maddox grounded out to the pitcher, Smith, Milliken was able to touch home as well to give the visitors a 4-0 lead. 

Neither team scored in the fourth, but Cascade manufactured another run in the fifth on a sac-fly from Demartelaere that drove home Parker. Parker led off the inning reaching second base safely because of a throwing error from the shortstop, and then a sac-bunt from Milliken to advance him to third and give Cascade a 5-0 lead.

After Hathcock struck out the side in order to close the fifth, Elijah Wesenberg led off the top of the sixth with a double to center to flip the lineup over. Childress worked another walk, then Dixon reached via an error from the pitcher, Alexander, to load the bases with nobody out yet again. Hathcock then worked a walk to drive home a run, Demartelaere recorded another sac-fly, and then Parker was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases. Milliken struck out, but then Daymian Maldonado worked a walk to drive home the eighth run. Finally, Maddox hit a ground ball to first, but reached safely via an error. This allowed Isaac Winton and Parker to reach home, but the inning ended when Maldonado was thrown out at the plate. 

However, the Cascade lead now stood at 10-0, and after Hathcock set down the Lions in order once again, the Champions officially locked up game one of the series.

Childress finished 1-2 at the plate with a pair of walks, Dixon went 1-3 with a double, and Hathcock finished 0-2 but drew two walks. Demartelaere went 1-3 with a pair of RBIs, Parker batted 2-2 with a double, and Daymian Maldonado finished 0-2 but drove home a pair of runs while drawing two walks.

Cascade will host game two on Wednesday night with first-pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m.