Messer's one-hitter carries Hillbillies into Class A Region 4 championship series

MAN   Braxton Messer hurled a one-hit shutout and second seed and third ranked Man advanced to the Class A Region 4 championship series, defeating third-seeded Wahama 8-1 Monday night at William "Tootie" Carter Field.

Man (16-8) will host game one of the best of three regional championship series Monday at 6 p.m. against fourth-seeded and fifth ranked Gilmer County.

The Titans (18-8) defeated top seed and second ranked Huntington St. Joe's 4-0 in eight innings Monday night.

Eli Rickard singled with one out in the sixth inning for the White Falcons (15-16) only hit.

Messer struck out eight and walked two in seven innings to earn the complete game victory. Blake Henry allowed three unearned runs on one hit and three walks in two innings for Wahama.

Gavyn Cline and Noah Maynor each singled to account for Man's only hits while Landon Cantrell and Noah Frazier each drove in one run for the Hillbillies.

Cantrell scored the first run of the game when he crossed the plate on an error by the center fielder in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 Hillbilly lead.

Man added to its lead with a pair of runs in the second inning. Frazier was hit by the pitch with the bases loaded to plate Cody Walls to make it 2-0. Later in the inning, Cantrell flew out to left field to bring home Brayden Compton giving the Hillbillies a 3-0 lead.

Man will return to action Thursday evening in a regular season tune-up game as part of a doubleheader at county rival and Class AA No. 2 Logan. Thursday's first game will start at 4 p.m. with the second game scheduled to start at 7 p.m.