MCMINVILLE, Tenn. – The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (16-5, 2-3) all knew going into game one of their District 9-AAAA series against Warren County that their head coach, Chase Jones, was one win away from big number 400 for his career. With that in mind, Jones’ team went out and dominated the Warren County Pioneers (6-11, 1-4), winning 11-1 after six innings, and a mini-celebration ensued. 

“The 400 mark, I told the kids, I’ve never been a win-guy, I try to do the right thing, I try to get our kids to do the right thing and let wins take care of themselves,” Jones said postgame. “When I think of the wins, I think of all the kids that have played for me.” 

Jones is currently in his 21st season as a head coach, but his 27th season coaching in total. He took the Shelbyville Central job before the 2022 season, and is in the middle of his fourth season at the helm of the Golden Eagles. 

“It’s been a long career, but it’s been a blessed career. Sometimes it gets tough, but as soon as it gets tough, I think about these kids and man, I’m blessed. I’m blessed to do what I do, I’m blessed to be around these kids.”

One of the kids, senior starting pitcher William Bobo, got the start on the mound against the Pioneers, and nearly pitched a six-inning no-hitter. In the bottom of the fifth, Warren County’s Corban Felton hit a sharp ground ball past the diving Brody Lovvorn at third to record the hosts’ only hit of the night. Besides that, Bobo was masterfully efficient, pitching the complete 6.0 innings and giving up just a single unearned run in the fifth on one hit while walking a single batter and striking out seven on just 71 pitches.

“He [Bobo] was lights out tonight,” Jones said postgame, “I’m just so proud of our kids. They came out tonight and they weren’t distracted in the least. William [Bobo] threw his tail off.”

His counterpart on the mound, lefty Evan Snapp, went 4.2 innings, giving up 10 hits and nine earned runs with four walks and eight strikeouts on 98 pitches. Of those 10 hits, one of them was a home run. Keaton Rowe came on in relief, throwing the final 1.1 innings while giving up two earned runs on four hits and a strikeout on 23 pitches.

Shelbyville led off the game with William Bobo drawing a walk, and after swiping second and third, Stephen Bobo drove his older brother home on a groundout to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead. 

Neither team scored in the second inning, but William Bobo led off the third inning with a single to get a rally started for Shelbyville. The next batter, Caden Duggin, hustled out an infield single that moved Bobo to third, and then Stephen Bobo recorded his second RBI of the night on a hard-hit ground-ball down the first-base line to double SCHS’ lead to 2-0. After Lovvorn was retired, Caden Peacock launched his first home run of the season over the left-centerfield wall in a full count to once again double the Golden Eagles lead, this time to 4-0. 

Caden Peacock (2) celebrates with William Bobo (left) after Peacock's 2-run home run in the third inning.

T-G Staff Photo

The visitors tacked on another run in the fourth inning after William Bobo’s pop fly into right field dropped to the ground thanks to some help from the wind to drive home Reager Edwards. This would be the first of three instances where Warren County’s right fielder, Hayven Jones, either was unable to make the play in right or, in the fifth inning, would lose the ball in the lights. 

Stephen Bobo started the fifth with a leadoff double to right center, and then Brody Lovvorn reached first safely on an overthrown dropped third strike from the catcher, Sam Robinson. This sent Bobo to the plate, giving SCHS a 6-0 lead, and Lovvorn to third, all with no outs. Peacock then skied a ball to right, and Jones immediately lost it in the lights, allowing Lovvorn to score and Peacock to reach second with a standup double. Palmer Edwards followed that up with an infield single of his own, and he reached second thanks to an error on the play. Two batters later, Michael Estrada hustled out another infield single with two outs to score Peacock from third to flip the lineup over. Bobo slapped his third hit of the night into center, driving home Edwards to balloon Shelbyville’s lead to 9-0, before Bobo was thrown out trying to leg out a double. 

In the home half, Keynai Bryan scored the only run of the night for Warren County after reaching base via an error. The Pioneers also broke up Bobo’s no-hit bid in the frame.

Shelbyville didn’t waste time in the top of the sixth, as a Stephen Bobo base hit resulted in a pair of runs scoring off the bat of Brody Lovvorn. Lovvorn tripled to drive home Bobo, and then was allowed to touch home plate for the Golden Eagles’ 11th run of the night after the Pioneers threw the ball into their dugout.

Bobo came back out for the sixth, and he set down Warren County in order to secure the run-rule victory.

Palmer Edwards (23) tries to lift his head coach, Chase Jones, in celebration following Jones' 400th career win as a head coach on Tuesday.

T-G Staff Photo

“Big picture, the win tonight puts us in position where, if we can get a win tomorrow, it makes the series next week against Columbia huge,” said Jones. “We’re trying to get into a position where we can host the District Tournament [as a 1 or 2 seed] and we’ve got to get the sweep this week and we’ve gotta show up and play against Columbia next week and when the smoke clears, we can see where we’re at.”

William Bobo finished 3-3 at the plate with a pair of doubles, a walk, and two RBIs. Caden Duggin went 1-4 with a single, Stephen Bobo finished 3-4 with two RBIs, and Brody Lovvorn went 1-4 with a triple and two RBIs. Caden Peacock batted 2-3 with a walk, a home run, and a double to go along with 3 RBIs while Palmer Edwards finished 2-4.

Shelbyville hosts Warren County in game two on Wednesday night with first pitch scheduled for 5:30 p.m.