Down 2-1 in the top of the seventh inning, an enthralling comeback along with a complete game performance from senior Jackson Sleeper helped fuel a 6-2 win for the Grace Christian Academy Lions (37-5) over the Northpoint Christian Trojans (27 -10) in the Division II-A state tournament Tuesday night at Middle Tennessee Christian School in Murfreesboro.

The victory advanced GCA to the next round of the DII-AA winner’s bracket.

“That’s a really good ball club,” Lions coach Brad Meyers said. “They shut us down for a long time, and we just stuck with what we do. We have had big innings all year long. No reason to stop now.”

Northpoint Christian got on the board in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer by Hudson Brown to grab a 2-0 lead. The Trojans threatened again in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff single, but Sleeper rallied with a strikeout, a fly-out to center field, and a pop-up to right field to keep it a 2-0 ball game.

GCA got on the board in the top of the sixth when senior Dean Bechman scored a runner from third on an infield error by Northpoint Christian to cut the Trojans lead to 2-1.

In the top of the seventh inning, the Lions came roaring into the frame, piling on five runs to grab their first lead of the contest, 6-2. Senior Parker Wyatt got thngs started with an RBI single, followed by a two-run homer by junior Trace Phillips, and an RBI single from Bechman. GCA also added a run on a wild pitch.

Sleeper capped off his complete game with two strikeouts and a flyout to center field to seal the Lions win.

“We hit the ball the last inning and put some pressure on them,” Myers added. “We were fortunate to come out with the win. … (Sleeper) came through big. He has been throwing the ball well all year long. He competed and stayed with it.”

GCA will play Goodpasture at 12:30 pm on Wednesday.

Centennial blanked in opening game of 4A tourney

The Centennial Cougars (20-15) couldn’t get anything going offensively Tuesday afternoon, falling 7-0 to the Stewarts Creek Red Hawks (29-7) in the opening round of the 4A state baseball tournament at Siegel High School in Murfreesboro.

“We played fairly well defensively,” Centennial head coach Rob Baughman said. “We just couldn’t put the ball in play. Unfortunately, they had a couple of big hits in the fifth and sixth inning and broke it open.”

Stewarts Creek broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning on a solo home run by senior Reginald Cooper to take a 1-0 lead before the Red Hawks broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth.

Senior Kennan Saiyasak got the six-run frame going with an RBI single, followed by an error on Centennial, a three-run homer by Brett Vondohlen, and a wild pitch to stretch the Stewarts Creek lead to 7-0.

Down to their final inning, Centennial went down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh as Stewarts Creek sophomore reliever Aiden Schwartz forced two flyouts to left field and a lineout to first to give the Red Hawks a 7-0 win.

Centennial will play Powell High School (Knoxville) at 10:00 am Wednesday in the 4A double elimination game while Stewarts Creek will play Houston High School (Germantown) at 12:30 pm on Wednesday.

Other Nashville-area scores from the first day of Spring Fling baseball include:

Class AA: Pigeon Forge 8 White House Heritage 6

Class 4A: Hendersonville 3 Farragut 2

Colliverville 6 Riverdale 4 (10 innings)

DII-A: Goodpasture 18 Silverdale 1

DII-AA: Knoxville Catholic 3 Lipscomb Academy 0