By Michael Lindsay
White County and DeKalb County staved off elimination Friday afternoon as they won a pair of elimination games against Cumberland County and Livingston Academy in the District 7-3A baseball tournament at Upperman High School.
Following a nearly hour-long weather delay, #4 seed DeKalb County opened the afternoon with a 6-3 victory over Cumberland County followed by #5 White County taking down #2 Livingston Academy in the nightcap, 8-7.
Tiger pitcher Cade Caballero recorded the victory in game one as he struck out 8 batters in six innings pitched. Konner Young led DeKalb at the plate as he went 2-3 with a double, 2 RBIs and a run scored.
White County’s 8-7 victory over Livingston Academy in game is the program’s first postseason victory since 2019 in District 6-3A.
“We were gritty,” said Warrior head coach Tyler Thompson. “We were challenged on Wednesday and came in with a chip on our shoulders trying to get our seniors another game. We had a lot of young guys step up and they fought every inning.”
Livingston opened the contest with one run in the bottom of the first inning followed by three shutout innings by White County pitcher Will Thomas.
“Will has been our guy all year,” said Thompson. “He gave us a perfect opportunity to win that baseball game.”
White County took their first lead of the afternoon in the top of the fifth inning as the Warriors scored six runs in the frame via hits by Austin Pionke, Jack Everett and Jonathon Boswell and Kaden Siebers scoring on a passed ball to give White County a 6-1 lead entering the bottom of the frame.
“The bottom of our lineup did exactly what he needed to do,” said Thompson. “He got on base and the top did the work. We were feeding off each other and hits are contagious.”
Livingston battled back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut their deficit to 6-4 entering the sixth. White County tacked on two runs in the top of the sixth to lead 8-4 before a 3-run bottom of the sixth by Livingston cut their lead to only one run at 8-7.
Warrior reliever Austin Pionke recorded the save for White County as he retired the side for Livingston in the bottom of the seventh inning to seal White County’s 8-7 victory.
The Warriors will face DeKalb County in an elimination game Saturday morning approximately 30 minutes after the Stone Memorial vs. Upperman game that starts at 9 a.m.
“I think our guys are ready,” said Thompson. “They’re built so tough and they play their hearts out every time.”
