Hendersonville baseball escapes consolation bracket again to reach sectional series

Hendersonville looks on as the Commandos strike first against Beech on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. JOHN DECKER Hendersonville baseball will play in its first sectional series under coach Justin Martin after advancing out of a second straight consolation bracket on Saturday. The Commandos (24-18) won three straight games facing elimination in the District 7-4A tournament last week after dropping in the first round to Lebanon. They lost their Region 4-4A opener to Lawson on Friday but beat Overton and the Lightning in back-to-back games, sealing their first Class 4A sectional since 2022 with a 7-2 win in the consolation finals. “They just keep competing,” Martin said. “Just keep competing is all we do. It’s just one pitch, keep going, keep going.  And they have, and they just keep battling. Sometimes it’s not pretty. Sometimes it’s not what we want, but you know, the end result is how we wanna do it.” Hendersonville downed Overton 5-2 despite its only hit coming from a bunt single in the bottom of the sixth inning. Trailing 1-0 in the sixth, the Commandos loaded the bases with walks by Cal Lax and Joe Mosley and the bunt by Ivan Nguyen. Houston Bogle was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, tying the game, and Jakob Murphy drew a full free pass for a 2-1 lead. Two sacrifice flies and another bases-loaded walk later, and Hendersonville advanced with a one-hitter. “I just think it shows our competitiveness,” said Mosley, the District 7-4A MVP as a sophomore. “Like how tough we are. We overcame adversity multiple times. Like it wasn’t one time it was a fluke. And I’m really proud of the boys. I couldn’t ask for a better team.” Mosley’s leadoff home run put the Commandos in front on the first at-bat of the consolation finals. It set the tone for them to avenge Friday’s 4-2 defeat to Lawson in the region semifinals. Freshman Tyson Jackson pitched five one-hit innings in relief of Mosley on the mound. He walked one while striking out eight, helping Hendersonville balloon its lead from 3-2 to five runs in the sixth. “I don’t know if he realizes the magnitude of the event he was in,” Martin said. “You know, being a freshman, maybe he didn’t know that it was a huge, huge moment. But he stayed really composed for a young man.” The Commandos last played in the sectional, and the state tournament, with longtime head coach Mike Hendrix in 2022. Martin was named his successor the next season and has worked to get Hendersonville back to the state stage since. He’ll have a chance to get there in a best-of-three series at Region 3-4A champion Shelbyville Central next week. “My first year was this senior group’s freshman year, so I’ve been with those guys for four years,” he said. “And you know, we’ve grown together. We’ve gotten better together. We’ve learned from each other. “Having guys like Jakob Murphy and Gavin Miller and Houston Bogle and Ford Procter, Carson Anderson, Grady Gulleman and Keane Gugenheim. Being with me for four years, they do a great job of relaxing the team and just keep playing, and that’s kind of how everything’s worked.” White House’s Easton Biggs limited Liberty Creek to two runs on six hits, but the Blue Devils fell 2-1 in the Region 5-3A championship. BLAINE KELLAR White House stunned by MLK Magnet in season-ending loss Back-to-back Class 3A tournament qualifier White House ended its season in stunning fashion, falling to MLK Magnet 2-1 in the Region 5-3A consolation finals on Saturday. The Blue Devils (20-14) entered the region rounds on a nine-game winning streak, and they racked up 19 runs in the first round against Hume-Fogg – all to score twice in two losses, to Liberty Creek and the Royals, and stop short of a third straight state trip. “We had some fluky plays,” White House head coach Nick Timblin said. “Had some things get in our head. Some weird hops. Balls hit right at guys. “I don’t feel like we ever stopped competing. It felt like one of those days where the ball just didn’t fall. And it’s hard for a team that relies on hitting to get things done a lot of times.” White House pitchers Easton Biggs, Wyat Rambo and Jake Soporowski starred in both games. The Blue Devils collected six hits and scored in the first inning twice, but they struggled after that against Lucas McEnany and Graham McCoy who pitched complete games for Liberty Creek and MLK Magnet. A lane violation in the fourth inning negated the would-be tying run for White House in the region championship. A fielding error aided its only score in the first inning of the consolation finals. They trailed from the fifth inning on to the Royals. The Blue Devils will graduate seven seniors from a team that won the District 9-3A championship this season and recorded at least 19 wins in all three years under Timblin. “It’s tough,” Timblin said. “We weren’t ready for this. I mean, we weren’t ready to be done. I’m not ready for us to be done. I know these guys deserve to move on, you know, after the season we’ve had and the way that they fought and fought and fought. They deserve to keep going.”