TennesseeSportsNet

Saturday marks the beginning of the 2013 NJCAA Baseball National Championships with the start of the Division I World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., the Division II World Series in Enid, Okla., and the Division III World Series in Tyler, Texas.

This year, the NJCAA will bring schools, fans and media closer to the action than ever before through a social media campaign and live broadcasts through NJCAA TV, powered by iHigh.com.

NJCAA TV will once again feature live video broadcasts of every game for all three tournaments. Twitter users can follow @NJCAATV to receive alerts when live broadcasts are starting.

As the NJCAA continues to integrate social media into its national championships, this year’s baseball tournaments will allow schools, teams, fans and media to connect through Facebook and Twitter. The official Twitter hashtag for the Division I World Series is #jucoWS, while the Division II and III tournaments will be using #JCWS. This hashtag will create a one-stop forum for social media users to find all the tweets pertaining to the NJCAA baseball championships. The NJCAA will also provide updates through the official twitter account, @njcaa. As photos from the tournament become available, they will be posted on the NJCAA Facebook Page.

WATCH NJCAA REGION VII CHAMPION WALTERS STATE PLAY SPARTANBURG METHODIST SATURDAY 3pm from the NJCAA World Series by clicking here!

Pigeon Forge trailed defending Class-AA champions Goodpasture 3-0 going into the seventh inning when lightning struck. The Tigers managed to score three times on three hits tying the Cougars.

Colt Buchanan reached on an error and got to third on a double by Drake Byrd. Buchanan later scored on a pass ball making the score 3-1 Cougars. With Byrd at third, Koleman Roach singles plating Byrd, 3-2 Goodpasture. With two outs, Jake Griffin drives in Roach to tie the game at three.

The game would move into the eighth knotted at three. The Tigers hit parade continued as Pigeon Forge scored three times on three hits.

Seth LaFollette singles up the middle followed by a hit by Wil Crowe. Buchanan sacrifices LaFollette and Crowe to third and second respectfully. Byrd (2-4) then singled down the right field line scoring both LaFollette & Crowe putting Pigeon Forge up for the first time in the game 5-3.

Crowe threw 157 pitches in the eight inning contest.
Crowe, who committed to South Carolina and who some say could go late in the first round of the NLB draft, seemed to find the plate when he needed it the most. In the 7th he allowed a two-out hit while striking out three of his 15 Ks.

The Richland Lady Raiders are just one step closer to their second (1973)TSSAA Class A Softball State Championship. Thursday the Lady Raiders beat a tough Gordonsville squad 2-0 in the winners bracket final at the Murfreesboro Sports Complex.

Richland has thrived behind the pitching of Ashton Edwards. The junior matched a TSSAA State Tournament record & set a personal best mark striking out 20 Lady Tigers. Edwards did not give up a run, but did allow two hits in her seven innings of action.

Gordonsville’s Cori Jennings struck out 10 Lady Raider hitters, but had some control problems in the third inning hitting three batters in the frame. With the bases loaded and two outs Richland’s Ashton Henderson doubled down the right field line scoring Baylee Wallace and Taylor Parker. Richland led 2-0.

The Lady Tigers managed to load the bases in the sixth, but Allyson West grounded out to first base to end the inning. And in the seventh the Lady Tigers opened with a single by Shelby Prichard, but Edwards struck out the side to end the game.

Gordonsville will face Whitwell in Friday’s 9:00am elimination game. The winner will play Richland at 2:00 for the 2013 TSSAA Class A State Softball Championship. The games will be played at the Murfreesboro Sports Complex, Starplex #4.

from Matt Daniels, SID Walters State:

MORRISTOWN, Tenn. – After a crazy beginning of the day that included Middle Georgia State being disqualified due to a technical issue, the NJCAA East Central District Baseball Tournament opened with a 6-3 victory for the Columbia State Chargers.

The Chargers never trailed, as they took an early lead and never looked back in the victory over the Georgia Perimeter Jaguars in the opening round game.

With the win, Columbia State extended their winning streak to eight games and improved to 35-19 on the season. The Chargers will take on Walters State on Friday morning at 11 a.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game.

The loss drops the Jaguars to 37-20 on the season and into an elimination game at 3 p.m. Friday against the loser of the opening game of the day.

The Chargers squandered a chance to score in the first inning after loading the bases with one out, but Georgia Perimeter pitcher Sam Bragg struck out the next two batters to retire the side with no damage done.

Bragg wasn’t as lucky in the second inning. After recording two outs, Caleb Warnimont singled against Bragg and moved to third when Dustin Delgado struck out but reached on a throwing error by the catcher. Wes Neiderland followed with an RBI single, giving Columbia State a 1-0 lead.

The Chargers extended the lead quickly in the top of the third. TJ Diffenderfer ripped a double off the wall in right center and scored on a double to the left center gap by Desi Ammons to make it 2-0.

The Jaguars got on the board in the bottom half of the third and cut the deficit in half. Cody McCance singled to lead off the frame and scored on an error when Pierce Ressmeyer grounded into a fielder’s choice to trim the lead to 2-1.

The Chargers added to their lead in the top of the sixth. Warnimont singled and stole second with one out and scored on an RBI single by Scott Gibson to increase the margin to 3-1.

The Jaguars once again cut into the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Drew Adler reached on a fielder’s choice before Matt Taylor singled and Erik Davis drew a walk to load the bases. Stephen Mason followed with a walk to cut the deficit to 3-2, but they could not get another run across in the frame.

Columbia State pushed runs across in the seventh and eighth innings, as Ronnie Jebavy slapped an RBI single in the seventh while Josh Wilson and Warnimont both added run scoring base hits in the eighth to build the lead to 6-2.

The Jaguars mounted one last rally, scoring a run in the ninth on a grounder to make the final score 6-3.

Warnimont led the Chargers with three hits, while Neiderland, Jebavy and Ammons had two hits each in the win.

Lucas Laster (7-2) was the winning pitcher after allowing two runs – one earned – on seven hits in six-plus innings. Kierce Kimbel picked up his first save after allowing only one earned run on three hits in three innings of relief.

McCance belted three hits while Trumon Jefferson and Wes Armstrong both added two hits in the defeat.

Sam Bragg (7-5) was tagged with the loss after surrendering three runs – two earned – on eight hits in six innings.

The Middle Georgia Warriors received some bad news Thursday morning, just prior to throwing out the first pitch against the Chargers of Columbia State.
Tournament officials discovered that Middle Georgia had used an ineligible player during the GCAA Region 17 Tournament. Region VII Tennessee commissioner Bobby Hudson told TSN they received word from the headquarters of the NJCAA to strike the Warriors from the tournament.
The NJCAA East Central tourney will now consist of three teams, Columbia State, Walters State of Tennessee’s Region VII and Georgia Perimeter of Region 17.
The first game now set for 3pm est/ 2 central today between Columbia State and Georgia Perimeter, with only one game being player Thursday.
The winner plays host Walters State at 11am est 10cdt Friday.
TennesseeSportsNet will have all of the Chargers action LIVE from Morristown.