Marshall County’s’ postseason run ended Tuesday night at Nolensville via a dominating pitching performance by Giles County ace southpaw Jake Cardin, who blanked the Tigers over the first six innings before Tucker Toone came to the hill and pitched a scoreless seventh inning to finish off the 5-0 win in the District 12-AA Tournament loser’s bracket final.

“I thought we did pretty good, I was real pleased with them, I guess the ruby slippers came off a little too quick,” MCHS coach Mike “Monk” Reese said. “The big thing is we got to play baseball this year, you think about what happened last year and where we are.”

“Yeah we fell a little short, but I’m real proud of our team, we wanted to get to the next level and I was hoping and praying for them, because it’s a lot of fun.”

Cardin, who moved to 8-0 on the season, gave up three hits, struck out six, and walked one Marshall County batter.

MCHS junior Carson Cheek also turned in a solid effort on the mound for the Tigers, tossing a complete game.

Cheek gave up five runs (three earned) on eight hits while striking 10 and walking zero Giles County batters.

“It was nothing on his (Cheek) part, he had a good year, he had to pitch all the tough ballgames,” Reese said. “He pitched all the tough ballgames, he always pitched against their number ones, he didn’t always come on top, but I thought he threw well for us.”

“He is a junior and I expect a lot of big things out of him next year, I know he will play for (Columbia American Legion) Post 19 this summer and get some experience against some pretty good ball clubs, he’s a good kid and I’m excited for him.”

Marshall County left six runners on base in the contest with one stranded in the first, second, fourth, and seventh innings and a pair in the top of third.

Giles County also left runners on base over the first three innings before breaking through in the bottom of the fourth inning.

“We had a couple of opportunities, we always seemed to get a guy in scoring position with two outs, but we just couldn’t get that big hit,” Reese said.

Riley Cardin singled to lead off the home half of the fourth and Sawyer Phillips followed with a double to put runners on second and third for Cooper Hulbb, who slashed a two-run single to center field.

Cheek came up with a strikeout before back-to-back singles by Kamari Turner and Toone made it a 3-0 contest.

Cheek got the second out on another strikeout and it looked like he would escape any further damage, but a groundball to shortstop was booted and two more runs scored to make it 5-0 contest.

Cardin set down the Tigers in order in the fifth and six innings and did not come back out to the mound in the seventh.

The side-arming Toone gave up a one-out double to Tristan Griggs before a groundball back to the mound and a strikeout ended the game.

The Bobcats went on to the District 12-AA Tournament title game a short while later and took the host Knights to the limit, losing 6-5 on a walk off single in the bottom of the seventh inning by Ethan McElvain.

The win gave the Knights, who move up to Class 4A next season, their third straight district tournament title.

Also next season for the first time in several decades or maybe even longer, the Tigers and the Bobcats will not be in the same district or region as Giles County.

“This will be a first to my knowledge, all the years that I played and coach (Joe) George (TSSA Hall of Famer), coached it has always been us and Giles County remaining together,” Reese said. “We are going to try to schedule each other.”

The Bobcats will remain in Class 2A, but moving to Region 5, District 10 along Lewis County, Loretto, Mt. Pleasant High School, and Summertown.

Marshall County moves up to Class 3A next season and will be in Region 4, District 8 along with Lawrence County, Lincoln County, Page, Spring Hill, and Tullahoma.

Marshall County 000 000 0-0 4 2

Giles County 000 500 X-5 8 1

Marshall County: Tristan Griggs 2-for-3, Ryan Kirby 1-for-2, John Morgan Thomas 1-for-2.

BB: Peyton Graves.

2B: Griggs 2.

SAC: Kirby, Carson Cheek.

ROE: Caleb McElhaney.

Team LOB: 6

Fielding

E: McElhaney, Trey Warner.

LP: Carson Cheek (6IP, 8H, 5R, 3ER, 10K, 0BB).

Giles County: Tucker Toone 2-for-4, Kamari Turner 2-for-3, Coleman Siniard 1-for-4, Riley Cardin 1-for-3, Sawyer Phillips 1-for-3, Cooper Hulbb 1-for-1.

RS: Toone, Siniard, Riley Cardin, Phillips, Hulbb.

2B: Phillips, Turner.

RBI: Hulbb 2, Toone.

SAC: Clay Mitchell.

ROE: Jake Cardin, Siniard.

HBP: Hulbb 2.

SB: Jake Cardin.

Team LOB: 7

Fielding

E: Jack Harper.

WP: Jake Cardin (6IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 6K, 1BB).

Relief: Tucker Toone (1IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 2K, 0BB).

District 12-AA Championship Game

At Nolensville

Giles County 010 003 1-5 3 5

Nolensville 200 102 1-6 5 1

Giles County: Jake Cardin 1-for-3, Sawyer Phillips 1-for-3, Cooper Hulbb 1-for-2.

BB: Riley Cardin 2, Tucker Toone, Clay Mitchell, Coleman Siniard, Kamari Turner.

RS: Toone, Mitchell, Jake Cardin, Riley Cardin, Turner.

2B: Phillips.

RBI: Jake Cardin, Phillips, Hulbb.

SAC: Toone.

ROE: Mitchell.

HBP: Jake Cardin, Turner.

GIDP: Jack Harper.

SB: Mitchell, Riley Cardin.

Team LOB: 6

Fielding

E: Jack Harper 3, Toone, Phillips.

DP: Jake Cardin, Toone, Siniard, Mitchell.

LP: Will Hargrove (6IP, 4H, 6R, 2ER, 2K, 3BB).

Relief: Tucker Toone (, 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1K, 0BB).

Nolensville: Ethan Syling 1-for-3, Tyler Hummel 1-for-4, Quentin Jenkins 1-for-4, Ethan McElvain 1-for-3, Eric Harper 1-for-3.

BB: McElvain, Grayson Rains, Jack Riggs.

RS: McElvain 2, Syling, Harper, Bryan Cluck, Deakin Wimmer.

2B: Harper, Hummel.

RBI: Harper 2, Jackson Hill, McElvain, Grayson Rains.

SAC: Cluck, Rains, Syling.

SF: Hill.

ROE: Cluck, Harper, Hummel, McElvain.

FC: McElvain.

SB: McElvain.

CS: Hummel.

Team LOB: 4

Fielding

E: Hummel.

DP: Colin Dunworth.

WP: Deakin Wimmer (.1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0K, 0BB).

Starting Pitcher: Tyler Hummel (5IP, 2H, 3R, 1ER, 0K, 3BB).

Relief: Colin Dunworth (1P, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 3K, 1BB).

Relief: Grant Wagner (.2IP, 0H, 1R, 1ER, 0K, 2BB).