Collegiate wood bat play opens successfully in Columbia

Sebastian Gonzalez’s third-inning grand slam rallies the host Columbia Jumpin’ Jacks from an early deficit, but it takes extra innings Thursday night to secure a 7-6 victory over the Tullahoma Test Pilots in Volunteer State League play at Columbia State’s Dave Hall Field. ROB FLEMING Summer collegiate wood bat baseball introduced itself to Columbia in dramatic fashion Thursday night. Sebastian Gonzalez’s third-inning grand slam put the Columbia Jumpin’ Jacks on the scoreboard, and Alex Bedford’s 10th-inning infield grounder plated Colby Angel with the winning run in a 7-6 victory over the Tullahoma Test Pilots to open Volunteer State League play at Columbia State’s Dave Hall Field. “A win is a win, however you get it,” Bedford said. “There were a bunch of fans out here. The Columbia community came to represent and they stayed most of the game. “I thought we put on a pretty good show, and we got the win.” Bedford, a former Lawrence County High School standout, redshirted this spring at Middle Tennessee State after initially signing with the University of Tennessee and transferring at the Christmas break. Columbia Jumpin’ Jacks coach Noah Baughman (right) congratulates Sebastian Gonzalez following his third-inning grand slam in Thursday’s 7-6, 10-inning win over Tullahoma to open the team’s home schedule in the Volunteer State League. ROB FLEMING “I played a little last fall (at UT), but this was really my first game environment since high school,” said Bedford, who reached on an error ahead of Gonzalez’s bomb over the scoreboard in left field that offset Tullahoma’s early 3-0 lead. The Jumpin’ Jacks tacked on a run in the seventh with a Layth Holliday RBI single, but their bullpen couldn’t hold Tullahoma down the stretch. The Test Pilots scored twice in the ninth on a Columbia error, a double and a wild pitch, then went ahead in the top of the 10th. Placing a runner at second to open extra-inning at-bats, Tullahoma pushed that one run across for a lead. That was all former Independence pitcher Colton Montgomery allowed in the inning, though, striking out a pair and keeping the hosts close enough for Angel’s single to drive in the game-tying run before Bedford’s one-out grounder for the win in their debut. “We got to see the tiebreaker rule. It was fun to get ‘extra’ baseball,” Jumpin’ Jacks coach Noah Baughman said. “Two games in, it’s been fun. It’s challenging, but it’s fun, for sure.” Tullahoma’s Jaxon Sheffield signals teammate Jayron Morris safe at home plate on a first-inning wild pitch by Columbia’s Harrison Cassle during Thursday’s Volunteer State League contest. The Jumpin’ Jacks overcame the early deficit and eventually won their home opener 7-6 in 10 innings at Columbia State’s Dave Hall Field. ROB FLEMING Montgomery, who sat out the past season after undergoing ‘Tommy John’ surgery during his freshman year at Northeast Mississippi Community College, made his return to the mound. He struck out a pair, allowed a hit and a run and earned the victory. “That was my first outing since (April 2025),” he said. “I had no expectations. It felt good. I’m blessed to be still playing. It’s good to be getting comfortable again, to compete again.” Montgomery was the fifth pitcher to take the mound for Columbia in Thursday’s win, after the Jacks used four in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss at Gallatin. “Ideally we’d use three or four ‘arms’ a night,” Baughman said. “If we hadn’t walked it off there, we would have had to go to a position player. “We want to take care of these guys’ arms. We don’t want their (college) coaches mad at us. We’ve got 36 games in two months. We have to be creative with it.” Columbia’s play in the four-team Volunteer State League – a fifth team, the Pulaski Pop Tops, announced Monday it would not begin play until the 2027 season – continues with home games Saturday against the Cookeville Flying Frogs, Sunday against Tullahoma and June 12 against Gallatin. All game times are 7 p.m. Members of the Columbia Jumpin’ Jacks pose around home plate at Columbia State’s Dave Hall Field following a 7-6, 10-inning win over the Tullahoma Test Pilots in their Volunteer State League home opener Thursday. The VSL is a summer collegiate wood bat league along the lines of the Cape Cod and Northwoods leagues. MAURICE PATTON Columbia Jumpin’ Jacks 7 Tullahoma Test Pilots 6 (10 inn.) T 201 000 002 1 – 6 5 2 C 004 000 100 2 – 7 6 3 Walker Shaw, Boston Benson (3), Andrew Zebick (6), Tyson Copley (7), Ben Quick (9) and Jayron Morris, Jameson Van Ness (7). Harison Cassle, Max Cassle (4), Jude Wascom (6), Brayden Kercado (8), Colton Montgomery (10) and Russ Lambert. W: Montgomery. L: Quick. HR: Columbia – Sebastian Gonzalez.