On Tuesday, April 23, DEA Eagles played Crisp Academy Wildcats back-to-back in the State Quarterfinals. In game one, Sophomore Brody Fleming struck out 13 over five innings for the Eagles, pitching a no-hitter over the Wildcats of Crisp Academy in Game 1 of the GIAA State Quarterfinals. Fleming was dominant from the beginning of the game and had a little magic in his bat at the end as well. In the second inning, Senior Billy Martin worked a base on balls, then stole second and made his way to third on the play when the throw went into centerfield. Martin then scored the game's first run on a balk. In the third inning, Clayton Hood singled and Fleming was hit by a pitch. Both then perfectly executed a double steal and Richard Braddy hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Hood and move Fleming to third and then Martin also hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Fleming. In the fourth inning, Senior Randon Williams and Sophomore Sailor Powell each earned a base on balls and Hood blasted a long homerun to leftfield to clear the bases. In the fifth inning, Sophomore Cooper Riner doubled and later scored on a couple of sacrifice flies by Layton Terwilliger and Powell, making the score 7-0. Tucker Free hit a hot shot to third and beat out the throw, Hood then walked, and Fleming belted a long walk-off homerun to leftfield to "run rule" the visiting Wildcats 10-0.
In game two, Braddy and Hood combined to throw a no-hitter Braddy was efficient with his pitches early allowing his defense to work with shortstop Powell and second baseman Free handling several opportunities each in the first three innings. Braddy then showed his dominance by striking out 11 Wildcats over his six innings. Hood came in a struck out two more Wildcats in the seventh to send the Eagles to the State Semifinals. Free and Hood both reached base in the first inning. Senior Jay Carter hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Free. Braddy hit a hard ground ball up the middle that the pitcher snagged, but with some savvy baserunning, Hood scored to make it 2-0 after one inning. In the fourth inning, Free worked a walk and stole second. Hood then doubled Free home and later scored on a Carter single to center. In the fifth inning, Terwilliger singled and then stole second base. Powell doubled Terwilliger home and then stole third base. Powell behind some "heads-up" baserunning scored on another ball snagged by the Wildcat pitcher. In the seventh inning, Hood earned a base on balls, Fleming punched a singled to center, and Carter had a moment he will never forget, blasting a long homerun to left center and put an exclamation point a big day for Eagles baseball as David Emanuel took the victory 11-0.
