MURFREESBORO, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville High Wildcats made it all the way to the TSSAA Class 4A state championship game against the Farragut Admirals on Saturday. The Wildcats got up early, but big scoring in late innings for the Admirals powered Farragut to their sixth straight state championship game with an 11-3 win, and earned Clarksville their first state runner-up title in in program history.
The Wildcats scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning after loading the bases with no outs, courtesy of two RBI singles from shortstop Kayden Pledger and designated hitter Carter Hedrick. The Wildcats loaded the bases again in the second, but could not score a run. More Clarksville scoring came in the third with the game tied 2-2, when center fielder Benton Barksdale batted in the third runner of the day with an RBI single.
From that point on, the Wildcats’ offense could not get a runner across home. Dawson Smith had a good start on the mound for Clarksville, allowing five hits in four innings, but the Farragut offense continued to chip away, forcing a pitching change. The Admirals scored three runs in the third, and five in the sixth, including a grand slam, to put the game out of reach.
“We ran into a buzzsaw today,” said Wildcats head coach Brian Hetland. “We were doing the right things, but they always seemed to get the right bounces. We would hit a ball hard, and they would make a play, and that’s baseball. When you play a program like that, those things have to go your way, and they didn’t today.”
Special season for Clarksville High
The Wildcats have had a special season, with the first state championship appearance, along with the best winning percentage in program history, with a senior class that has been to three straight state tournaments. For senior second baseman Kirk Weatherford, who has started since he was a freshman, this program has meant everything to him.
“It’s been a really cool few years,” said Weatherford. “Three straight state trips, a deep run this year; it couldn’t have gone better until the end. Obviously you want to win it, but it came down to having fun with the guys, and knowing my identity doesn’t rest in baseball, but in Jesus. This team is special.”
For Hetland, this team, and this senior class, has cemented their history in this program and left their mark.
“This season has meant so much to this program and these kids,” said Hetland. “We’ve been here three years in a row. This school has been around 117 years, and there’s only five trips to the state tournament, these seniors are three of them. That says a lot about this team and these kids, and the teams they had to beat to get there. They fought like crazy to get to this point. I wanted these guys to carry the big hardware like all the fans did too, but I couldn’t be prouder to be their coach.”
This article will be updated with photos.
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