The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles’ 2024 campaign came to a close at Lincoln County on Friday night after going 1-2 in the District 9-AAAA Tournament.

Last season, SCHS got hot just in time for the postseason and were able to forge a path all the way to the sub-state round. Unfortunately for third-year head coach, Chase Jones, this year the Golden Eagles were unable to capture the same magic after they lost to Warren County, 7-6, in the opening round of the district tournament, giving themselves zero room for error in the double elimination bracket.

GAME ONE 

Shelbyville Central trailed starting in the first inning on Wednesday night against the Pioneers, and were unable to muster up enough of a rally in the final innings of a 7-6 loss. 

Brody Lovvorn got the start on the mound, going 1.1 innings on 30 pitches. He gave up five hits, five runs with three of them earned including a home run while striking out one and walking one. 

Ashton Worley came on in relief for the next 3.2 innings, giving up two runs on three hits with just one run being earned while striking out two and walking two on 51 pitches. 

Blake Bone came out to the mound for the sixth inning, throwing two shutout innings and only giving up one hit while striking out three batters and walking just one on 25 pitches to give his team a chance to rally late.

Easton Denning got the start on the mound for Warren County, and he went six complete innings on 98 pitches. Denning gave up eight hits, six runs with four of them earned, and he struck out six batters while only walking two. Aaron Tallent came on in the seventh inning with the 7-6 lead to earn the save. He didn’t allow a single hit and he struck out two of the three batters he faced on 10 pitches.

Of the eight hits SCHS’ tallied, Nick Johnson had the only multi-hit night for the hosts with a double, a strikeout, and a walk with one RBI. Easton Denning for Warren County was the only other player to have multiple hits, including a double and three RBI. 

Carston Williams went 1-3 and drove in two runs while also scoring a pair of runs, leading the team in both departments. Stephen Bobo, Brody Lovvorn, Palmer Edwards, Kyler Trice, and Caden Peacock all collected one hit.

Warren County jumped on the Golden Eagles almost immediately, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Shelbyville responded with a run of their own in the first, and then in the second inning the two teams traded a pair of runs for the Pioneers to maintain a two run lead, 5-3, going into the third inning. 

Neither team scored in the third inning, and after Warren County pushed across one run in both the fourth and fifth inning to take a commanding 7-3 lead going into the bottom of the fifth.

Shelbyville’s offense began to show signs of life, plating one run in the fifth and then scoring two more in the sixth to cut the lead to 7-6, but they were unable to get a single base runner in the seventh inning.

GAME TWO

Shelbyville Central would get their revenge and stave off elimination against the Pioneers in game one of a doubleheader on Friday, walking off Warren County to complete a 12-2 run-rule win in the sixth inning to end their season.

Stephen Bobo gave the Golden Eagles a complete game performance on the mound, giving up only five hits, two runs with only one being earned on a solo home run, and striking out eight batters while only walking one on 85 pitches.

Alex Van Vuren got the start for Warren County, going four innings and giving up seven hits and five runs while striking out four and walking two on 77 pitches. 

Tallent came on in relief for him to start the fifth inning, and this time the Golden Eagles were able to figure him out almost immediately. He gave up seven runs on five hits, including a home run, while striking out just two batters and walking three in 1.2 innings.

Of the 12 total hits that Shelbyville tallied, three of them came from Kyler Trice while Stephen Bobo, William Bobo, and Nick Hopper all collected two hits apiece, Both Bobo’s drove home three runs apiece as well.

Warren County once again took a lead in the first inning, but Bobo held them to just one instead of three. In the second inning, Tyler Adams led things off with a solo home run to extend the Pioneers lead to 2-0, but that would be the last time Warren County scored a run. 

Shelbyville responded with a pair of runs to tie the game in the bottom of the second inning, and after both teams were held scoreless in the third inning, the Golden Eagles plated three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 5-2 lead and knock Van Vuren from the game.

With Bobo continuing to mow down Pioneers at the plate, Shelbyville’s bats would continue to cook in the fifth inning. A six-run inning, powered by a Nick Johnson grand slam, gave the Golden Eagles a 11-2 lead going into the sixth. Shelbyville would bring home one more run in the sixth to end the game an inning early and trigger the 10-run run-rule to stave off elimination for a couple hours.

GAME THREE

On Friday night in game two of the doubleheader, the Lincoln County Falcons completely shut down the Golden Eagles’ offense to end Shelbyville’s season, 9-0.

Powered by a 6-run knockout fourth inning, the hometown Falcons stayed unbeaten in the district tournament while sending Shelbyville Central home for good.  

Carston Williams started on the mound for the visiting Golden Eagles, and despite giving up one run in the first inning, pitched pretty well through the first three innings. Overall, he went 3.1 innings before a series of fielding errors knocked him from the game in the fourth. He gave up only four hits, and of the seven runs scored against him, only two of them were earned. Williams struck out eight batters while only walking three on 86 pitches.

Michael Estrada got the final two outs of the fourth inning on 14 pitches and walked just one. He was relieved by Parker Burks for the fifth inning, giving up two runs on two hits and striking out one on 20 pitches. Palmer Edwards came in for the sixth, retiring the side in order with one strikeout on 13 pitches.

Williams kept his team in the game down just 1-0 through three innings, but after another scoreless inning in the top of the fourth from his offense, Lincoln County exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning aided by defensive mishaps in the field by the visitors to take a 7-0 lead going into the fifth. The Falcons would tack on two more in the sixth inning, and after Samuel Smith held the Golden Eagles scoreless in the seventh inning to complete a dominant six-hit, 12-strikeout outing on 99 pitches, Shelbyville Central’s season ended with their second loss in the district tournament.

Palmer Edwards and Carston Williams were the only Shelbyville batters to have a multi-hit game with Edwards delivering a double. Stephen Bobo and Brody Lovvorn had the other two hits, including a double from Lovvorn.

The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles’ season ends with an impressive 21-13 (5-5) record after falling to the number one overall seed in District 9-AAAA.