Dawgs reach TranSouth final

May 6, 2006 – With less than 30 minutes before Cumberland took on Trevecca in the TranSouth Conference winner's bracket final, the Bulldogs' starting pitcher was nowhere to be found at Woody Hunt Stadium.
Someone located Drew Shetrone inside the trainer's room in the Lindsey Donnell Stadium fieldhouse and the junior right-hander made it to the Ernest L. Stockton Field mound in time for the 1:45 p.m. start Friday.
Then it was the Trojans who couldn't find their way around the bases and back to home plate often enough over the next couple of hours as Shetrone shut Trevecca down 3-1.
Because of the morning rain, the first game (won by Lyon 10-2 over Freed-Hardeman in the loser's bracket) was delayed, forcing Cumberland's contest to be backed up from its scheduled 1 p.m. start.
"He thought the game was pushed back to 2 o'clock because we had the delay," Cumberland coach Woody Hunt said. "He was in the training room, kind of taking it easy for a while. We had to go find him.
"He pitched real well. I'm proud of him."
Shetrone held the No. 12 Trojans to three hits and a walk while striking out seven in nine innings as he improved his record to 9-0 and sent No. 8 CU into today's 1 p.m. championship game (against Lyon, which beat Trevecca 11-3 in the loser's bracket final which followed) with a 40-15 record. The Bulldogs need just one win in two possible games today to take the championship.
"He was really focused in today on pitching," Hunt said. "He got his spots and had his slider going and had some velocity."
Trevecca pitcher Luke Brown matched Shetrone until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Bulldogs scratched out two runs.
"Luke threw well," Hunt said. "He gave them a chance to win. The guy (reliever Steve Acuna) who came in did a good job for them too. They had good pitching. It was anybody's ballgame. It was just a good pitching performance from both teams."
Courtney Probst walked and Dorian Rojas singled in the Cumberland fourth. Angel Mercado reached on a fielder's choice as Probst scored on an error. Nolan McCue singled to center field to score Mercado, who had stolen second.
Caleb Barrett doubled an inning later and scored on Mercado's sacrifice fly to right-center field.
Trevecca scored in the sixth when Maurice Cole reached on an infield hit and came around on Ryan Miesala's double.
The Trojans produced little else in the way of fireworks except for the bottom of the seventh inning when Coach Jeff Forehand was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. By rule, he had to sit out the following game when Trevecca faced Lyon.
The Scots earned their way back to Cumberland for next week's Region XI tournament. The TranSouth sends two teams to the region through automatic berth – CU via its regular-season championship and Lyon based on its reaching the finals (since the Bulldogs already have their berth). The Mid-South will also receive two automatic bids. Trevecca will also return as an at-large team based on its high ranking.
Win or lose today, Cumberland is expected to play at 4 p.m. Monday at Hunt Stadium.
Freed-Hardeman finished a 25-26 season despite a 3-for-5 afternoon (including a double) from junior right-fielder Justin Forrest of Lebanon, who batted in the No. 2 hole.
Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 17 or by e-mail at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com.