How Eagleville baseball has outscored TSSAA Spring Fling opponents 35-1 on way to state championship game

EAGLEVILLE - What is the secret behind Eagleville baseball's success at the plate this season?

"There's no easy outs," said Eagleville coach Brandon Bassham.

The Eagles reached the Class 1A state tournament championship game with an 11-1, five-inning win over Bradford in the bracket final Friday.

Eagleville will play for the title against the losers bracket winner between Peabody and McKenzie on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Eagleville (36-2) has scored 395 runs this season (10.4 per game). The Eagles have outscored their state tournament opponents 35-1.

A big reason for that is consistency throughout the lineup.

The Eagles have the star power with 1A Mr. Baseball winner Nathan Brewer leading the way. But the team's bottom half of the order has been as good as the top of the order for most teams.

"We can all hit and we all believe in each other," said Eagleville sophomore Brayden Baker, who batted in the No. 6 hole Friday. He is hitting .319 with five doubles, a triple, two homers, 23 runs and 23 RBIs. "It's hard to strike us out. We all battle (at the plate)."

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Friday's No. 7 hitter, Ben Thompson, is batting .432 while No. 8 hitter Brady Burns is at .381 and No. 9 hitter Brody McLemore .434.

That has helped the Eagles to a .401 team average through 38 games.

"All the way through, we just have hitters," said Eagleville leadoff hitter Carter Rockhold, whose 32 RBIs are a product of the players lower in the lineup producing. "Having Brody in the 9-hole is like having another leadoff hitter.

"We all have confidence everybody is going to put it in play."

Eagleville has scored double-digit runs in six of its last seven postseason games. The other was a 9-3 win over Moore County in the region championship. The Eagles have had 24 games with over 10 runs this season.

"This is by far the deepest team I've ever had," Bassham said. "You can see that in the productivity and the runs we've scored. To be honest, I kind of feel bad for our (number) 10-14 guys. They're starters for probably most teams in Class A."

Eagleville will be playing for its first state title, having reached its only championship game in 2012.

"Usually, in (Class A), when you get to the bottom of the order, it's easier. With our team, most days, it's not. If we're disciplined, stay in our swings and do what we're supposed to do...we've done a good job of that this year."

Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.