FLOWERY BRANCH — The youth movement for Cherokee Bluff was on full display Friday night in the Bears’ Class 3A first round sweep of Sandy Creek, 9-1 and 16-10, at Bluff Ballpark.
Freshman Tucker Holton and sophomore Jack Sparks got the wins while sophomore catcher Caleb Miele had five RBI, including his first home run of the season in the first inning of Game 2, a three-run bomb to set the tone for a wild second game. Another freshman, Gabe Gowder, gave the Bears some key innings in the second game after the Patriots rallied from a 5-0 deficit.
“All three of those guys have really been making strides and really threw well,” Bluff coach Jeremy Kemp said. “Jack got the win in that game and it was his first. That was big.
“Sandy Creek hits the ball as well as anyone we’ve played all year. Just super proud of our guys and how they battled back.”
“I just went there trusting my stuff. I knew I had the offense and the defense behind me,” Sparks said. “We’re a really young team with a lot of talent and feel like we’re just going to keep getting better and better.”
For Miele, the big blast was a welcome sight.
“I came up looking for a fastball and I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it,” Miele said. “It was cool to see it get out because I had been close so many times during the season.”
Cherokee Bluff (24-8) moves on to the Sweet 16 and will take on perennial power Pierce County next week.
Game 1: Cherokee Bluff 9, Sandy Creek 1
Holton worked around a two-out walk to Jonathan Little in the first. In the bottom of the first, the Bears took advantage of three walks and two wild pitches by Sandy Creek starter PJ Green, and a Patriots error to grab the quick lead.
Ty Corbin walked to lead off and stole second and Jacob Vokal walked with Corbin moving to third on a wild pitch on the play. Corbin scored on an errant pick off attempt with Vokal moving to third. Caleb Miele brought in Vokal with a RBI groundout to short for a 2-0 lead. Bryce England walked, moved to second and third on a hit by Caleb Piland and a stolen base. England scored on another wild pitch by Green to make it 3-0.
Bluff added on in the second as Kaden Thompson doubled and later scored on a safety squeeze by Corbin to push it to 4-0. Sandy Creek finally cracked the scoreboard with a solo home run from Kaleb Cost to lead off the top of the third.
Bluff answered with a pair of runs in each of the third and fourth innings to push the lead to 8-1. Kaden Thompson had a big two-run single in the third as part of his three hits in the game. The Bears got an unearned run in the sixth to make it 9-1.
That was more than enough for starter Tucker Holton, who went 3 2/3 innings allowing just two hits, including the Cost home run. He worked around five walks and struck out two. Lucas Tritt got the save going the final 3 1/3 innings, surrendering no runs on just two hits and striking out four.
The Sandy Creek offense left 12 runners on base, including seven in scoring position and was 0-for-9 with RISP for the game.
Game 2: Cherokee Bluff 16, Sandy Creek 10
The Bears offense came out swinging to start the second game as Miele, Piland, and Brett House all smacked deep home runs to left for a stunning 5-0 lead before the Patriots even came to bat. It was Miele’s first home run of the season.
However, the Patriots responded with four runs in the bottom of the first to knock out Bears starter Caleb Piland, who gave up all four runs on two hits and four walks. With the bases loaded, Bluff coach Jeremy Kemp rolled the dice and called on freshman Gabe Gowder, who came in and got a ground ball out and struck out Joel Reid to end the inning with Bluff holding a 5-4 advantage.
In his longest outing of the season, Gowder slammed the door on the Patriots over 2 2/3 innings, retiring six of the first seven batters he faced, all by strikeout. He ran out of gas in the fourth with a lead off single and walk but gave the Bears a chance to add on to their lead.
The Bears offense did just that, answering back with single runs each in the second and third on bases loaded walks for a 7-4 lead. Vokal added a RBI single in the fourth for an 8-4 lead, but the Bears left the bases loaded for a second consecutive inning with a chance to put it out of reach.
The Patriots took advantage as the Bears needed three pitchers to get out of the fourth. The Patriots got four walks, a two-run single from Green, and a RBI groundout from Daniel Belcher for a 9-8 lead.
Bluff tied the game in the fifth when Bryce England doubled and scored on an error. Sandy Creek reclaimed the lead 10-9 in the bottom of the inning on a suicide squeeze with one out.
But Bluff, which eventually scored in every inning, answered with five runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh behind the pitching of Sparks, who retired 8 of the 10 batters he faced without allowing a run or walk. Landon Kemp, Ty Corbin, and Miele combined for five RBI in the decisive sixth inning.
After going just 1-of-8 with RISP through the first five innings, the Bears went 4-for-6 in the key sixth and seventh innings to rally for the win.
