In 1993 the Johnson County Longhorn Baseball club advanced to the District 1 AA Tournament championship game, losing to eventual champion Unicoi County.  On Sunday, May 6th, 2012, the JCHS Longhorns advanced to the regional tournament for the second time in school history; this time beating the Unicoi County Blue Devils by the score of 2-1.  Harley Reece, starting on the mound on only one day of rest, pitched into the 6th inning, before giving way to ace, Ryan Mahala, who came in after throwing a seven inning complete game on Saturday against the Elizabethton Cyclones.  Reece was charged with only one run in his 5 1/3 innings of work.  He kept UCHS off balance with a knuckleballs and curveballs, mixing in enough fastballs to keep the Blue Devils honest.  Mahala did what Mahala does, and that's strike batters out.  The big right hander struck out 5 in his 2 and 2/3 innings of gutsy relief work.  Here are more highlights:

*Junior catcher, Ryan Smith, who had been hit for by the designated hitter on Friday and Saturday, knocked in the first JCHS run in the top of the 2nd inning, scoring Ryan Mahala, who started he game as the designated hitter.  Mahala scored from second base; a base he reached on a nice sacrifice bunt by centerfielder, Jacob Henson.  It was Smith's fourth RBI of the year, Henson's first sac. bunt, and Mahala's tenth run scored. 

*After the Blue Devils tied the game at one run apiece in the top of the 6th, the score remained deadlocked until the top of the 8th.  River Cazire, who started in left field for the Longhorns, came to the plate with two outs.  Cazire drew a crucial two out walk and stole second base, putting him in scoring position for shortstop, Judd Hammons.  Hammons fouled off several tough two strike pitches before he lined a fastball sharply down the left field line that scored Cazire from 2B.  It was the second time River has scored the winning run for JCHS in this district tournament, as he scored the winning run on the double by Chad Hodgkiss in our walkoff win vs. the Sullivan North Raiders.   Hammons is hitting .405 on the season and is now third in RBI, with 12. 

*JCHS has won 10 of 12 overall, with eight of those ten wins coming against Three Rivers Conference competition.  We were 2-6 in conference play after an April 6th loss to the Elizabethton Cyclones.  We have went 8-2 since.

*As of Monday morning the Blue Devils, Patriots, and Cyclones are competing to get through the loser's bracket to Wednesday's championship game.  The team that comes through that bracket will have to beat us twice (Wednesday an Thursday) to win the district championship.  If we win the district championship we will host a regional game here in Johnson County on Monday, May 14th.  If we finish second in the district tournament, which is the worst we can finish, we will travel to the District 2 winner for a region game.  More information on regional details and the District 2 AA conference will be posted in the next few days.