CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – For the first time in over a decade, Clarksville High baseball found its way back to the Spring Fling.

Clarksville High faced Hardin County Tuesday at Oakland High School in the opening round of the Class AAA State Baseball Tournament.

Even though the Wildcats managed to outhit the Tigers, it was the inability to cash in when it mattered most that resulted in an eventual 3-1 loss for CHS.

“We had runners at first and second early in the game and didn’t move runners,” said Clarksville baseball coach Brian Hetland. “Kyle (Magrans) could never come up with runners on base. He had three hits and we couldn’t make those go for us because there was no one on base at the time unfortunately. We just didn’t execute some things that we normally do. It just wasn’t a good offensive day for our team and that’s the bottom line.”

Playing underneath a full moon from the third inning on might have been a bad omen for Clarksville.

Several instances occurred where the snakebitten Wildcats saw the ball not bounce their way, literally.

“When we did hit balls hard, it seemed like they made diving catches or really great snags,” Hetland said. “Proctor (Grayson) hits a line drive that the guy makes an unbelievable catch on, otherwise, we’re at least second and third at worse in that situation with nobody out. We didn’t have a lot of things go our way, all the way around.”

Game summary

With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the first inning, Ethan Baggett drove in Garrison Goins on a one-out, base hit up the middle to give Clarksville an early 1-0 lead.

District 10-AAA Pitcher of the Year Brody Lanham got the start for the Wildcats and appeared to be his usual dominant self before running into some trouble in the top of the third inning.

The Tigers started off the frame with back-to-back singles before a walk loaded up the bases. After Jarrett Martin grounded into a fielder’s choice at home plate, Lanham issued another free pass to give Hardin County their first run of the game.

Willoughby Davis’ sacrifice fly then put the Tigers in front before an error on the Wildcat third baseman resulted in a two-run lead for Hardin County.

The bottom of the third inning featured two controversial calls by the field umpire on a close play at first base and also during a check swing from Cade Ross, neither of which went Clarksville’s way.

After the game, Hetland shared his thoughts on the series of unfortunate events that resulted in no runs in the frame for his group.

“We had two bad check-swing calls that weren’t even close,” Hetland said. “Even the umpire at third base told me, ‘You’re not getting a lot of help tonight’. Bottom line is, you don’t want help you just want the call to be right. Cade (Ross) did not swing on either one of those, but you have to play the game. I thought the home plate umpire had a good zone and that wasn’t the issue. We should have hit better and made more opportunities for ourselves and we just didn’t do it.”

Clarksville’s bad luck did not run out in the later innings either.

After a lead-off single from Walker Smith in the bottom of the sixth, Tiger right fielder Kyle Lambert robbed Proctor of a sure hit and maybe even extra bases.

Relief pitcher Bennett Mobley took over the mound for Lanham and worked out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the top of the seventh inning to keep the deficit at just two runs.

In the bottom-half of the frame, Kyle Magrans led off with a double before Baggett worked a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs.

Hardin County then turned a back-breaking, 4-6-3 double play on a hard hit ball to take the air out of the Wildcat crowd.

“I still thought we were going to win it all the way until the seventh or at least tie it,” Hetland said. “If that ball is left or right of him, we got a run in and are at first and second still. The bounces didn’t go our way.”

Key performers

Notre Dame commit Cooper Clapp threw a complete game and had two strikeouts, allowing one unearned run on seven hits in the win.

“Their pitcher is a great player,” Hetland said. “He can play. He’s not going to pitch at Notre Dame, but he knows how to pitch and he’s a competitor. He really varied his delivery a lot and threw three different pitches for strikes. He kept us off balance and we just couldn’t square him up enough.”

Lanham went five innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits, while striking out five batters in the loss.

“It was a solid start,” Hetland said. “He gave us his best. He pitched well enough to win obviously. We have to get him some run support. He can’t throw a shutout every time when you’re playing these caliber of teams. He was a little bit off at times, but he battled through it and gave us every opportunity to come back and win that game.”

Mobley pitched two scoreless innings in relief, scattering two hits and striking out three Tigers.

Jace Littlefield led the Tigers with a team-high two hits.

Magrans finished 3-for-3 with a walk and a double while Baggett went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI for the Wildcats.

Up next

Clarksville (32-6) will play McMinn County (20-13-1) today, May 26, at 10 a.m. in the loser’s bracket with their season on the line.

If the Wildcats win, they will get the loser of Farragut and Hardin County in a potential second game today, May 26, at 5 p.m.

“Kyle (Magrans) will get the start,” Hetland said. “I told them, ‘You have to be ticked off at the result here’. Not that you didn’t play hard, but you have to be ticked off at the result. You have to come back out and have a chip on your shoulder. It’s no different than any other time when you lose. You have to come back, compete and correct your mistakes. If we do that, we’ll have a chance to extend our season.”