Wildcats’ state run ends after midnight
Just hours after receiving the Mr. Baseball award, Mikee Teasley — who pitched and played third base for Oak Ridge — made his final start. He improved to 11-0 on the season and set the school record for career victories as Oak Ridge defeated Shelbyville Central 6-1 in an elimination game. (photo:Joseph Moseley | ORHS Sports Media )
The Wildcats, who reached the Class 4A state tournament for the third-consecutive season, saw their campaign end with a 7-5 loss to Ravenwood at Siegel High School in Murfreesboro.
Oak Ridge scored first with a run in the bottom of the first inning on a wild pitch by the Raptors’ Jack Lauer, the eventual winning pitcher.
After Ravenwood took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third, Oak Ridge pulled even on a sacrifice fly by senior and two-time defending Class 4A Mr. Baseball Mikee Teasley.
Teasley, a University of Tennessee signee, had a big tournament at Spring Fling. He went 7-for-10 at the plate, doubled twice in an 11-8 opening loss to state finalist Houston, drove in four runs in three games and scored a run against the Mustangs.
In Oak Ridge’s lone victory of the state tournament, Teasley picked up the win on the mound, pitching 6.2 innings in a 6-1 victory over Shelbyville Central. He surrendered one unearned run, five hits and two walks, while striking out 13.
Teasley, one of East Tennessee’s top pitchers, finished the season 11-0 and owns Oak Ridge’s wins record.
“Mikee has the career records for wins and he has the record for strikeouts for a season,” Oak Ridge Coach Travis Free said. “He broke his own record.”
In the Wildcats’ first two games, they scored 14 runs, all in two innings. Oak Ridge scored all eight of its runs against Houston in the bottom of the second, overcoming an early 5-0 deficit after the Mustangs scored three in the first and two in the second.
Houston won the game with three runs in the top of the seventh.
Against Shelbyville Central, Oak Ridge fell behind 1-0 in the top of the third on a single by Blake Bone. The Wildcats answered with six runs in the bottom of the inning.
Sophomore Jaiden Cheverton came up with a big hit in the frame, delivering an RBI double after Teasley hit a two-run single. Cheverton, a second baseman, was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.
Cheverton said he was confident after the Wildcats’ six-run inning.
“I had complete faith in Mikee,” he said.
Teasley gave way to reliever Tryce Sharp, who recorded the final out after giving up a hit in the seventh.
In the season finale, Oak Ridge opened an early lead before falling behind 7-2. The Wildcats rallied for three runs in their final at-bat.
Brooks Poteet was 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored, while Teasley went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly and an RBI. Warren East also had two hits and an RBI.
