Cookeville ousts WCHS from 7-AAA tournament
COOKEVILLE — The Pioneer baseball season came to an abrupt end Sunday afternoon, with a 6-2 loss to Cookeville in a District 7-AAA Tournament play-in game.
The Cavaliers, who went on to fall at Riverdale 8-1 on Monday, got things started early in Sunday’s game, striking for five runs on six hits against Pioneer starter Ryan Vincion.
Vincion, who finished his senior season with a 4-4 record, only lasted 1/3 of an inning before giving way to Nicholas Robinson, who allowed one run and four hits while fanning five batters through the game’s final 5-2/3 innings.
The Pioneers (15-16) tried to mount a comeback in the third, scoring two runs off a hit and two Cavalier errors.
Matt Brown got things going with a walk, and Derek Kennamer reached on an error before Zach Pelham drove in Brown on a dropped fly ball by Cookeville’s center fielder. Daniel Owens came through with a one-out single to left, driving in Kennamer for what would prove to be Warren County’s final run of the 2002 campaign.
Cookeville added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, when Jason Cobb singled and scored on an error by the Pioneers to give the Cavs the final margin of victory.
Cobb finished 3-for-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored, while Todd Martin and Trevor Mickey had two hits apiece.
Scott Dunham had a 2-for-3 day for WCHS, while Kennamer and Owens connected for the Pioneers’ other hits.
The game marked the end of the careers of seniors Dunham, Owens, Robinson, Vincion, Pelham, Jake Mitchell and Nathan Cantrell.