HUNTER COOKSTON
Writer
Win or Go Home—words the Whitwell baseball program had never faced before in a Sub-State game. After taking Game 1 with a dramatic 2-1 walk-off single by Brayden Riley, and then dropping Game 2 by a score of 4-2, the Tigers found themselves in a decisive Game 3 matchup against Gordonsville. Though played on a baseball field, the final game turned into a football-like shootout, with Whitwell emerging victorious, 19-10.
Due to TSSAA rules requiring the visiting team to play as the “home” team for one game in a three-game series, Whitwell entered Game 3 as the away team. But the Tigers came out swinging. Riley led off with an infield single, followed by a Jacob McCurry bunt single. Bennett Goforth was hit by a pitch, loading the bases and forcing an early pitching change. Michael Kilgore capitalized, ripping a bases-clearing triple into the gap. Gabe Ross then roped a single up the middle, scoring Kilgore, and Brody Harvey added a sacrifice fly to put Whitwell up 5-0.
Cayden Green got the start on the mound and delivered when it mattered most. He pitched 6.2 innings, allowing 9 hits and 7 earned runs while striking out three. While not the flashiest stat line, it was exactly what the Tigers needed.
“Honestly I was nervous, it’s all on the line, but at the end of the day, me and my team showed up playing good team ball,” Green said postgame.
In the second inning, Garrett Miller grounded out to bring in another run, extending the lead to 6-0. Gordonsville chipped away in the bottom of the third, scoring two to make it 6-2. But Whitwell exploded for six runs in the fifth. Harvey singled to drive in Kilgore, Riley reached on an error that scored another run, and McCurry followed with a three-run single. McCurry then stole second and third, scoring on an errant throw from the catcher.
With a 12-2 lead, Whitwell was just three outs away from ending the game via mercy rule. But Gordonsville wasn’t done—they rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the lead to 12-10.
Refusing to be rattled, Whitwell answered emphatically with eight more runs in the top of the sixth, putting the game out of reach. They added one more in the seventh to make it 19-10. Green returned to the mound and closed it out, sealing the biggest win in program history—and sparking mayhem on the field.
Though this marks Whitwell’s first-ever trip to the TSSAA Spring Fling, it certainly doesn’t feel like it will be the last.
