Wood baseball tops Kettle Run for region tourney berth

NOKESVILLE — Kaden Spaid and Nick Bell combined on a three-hitter as James Wood rallied to clinch a Region 4C playoff berth for the first time since 2007 with a 5-2 victory against Kettle Run in the Class 4 Northwestern District semifinals on Friday.

The Colonels (11-3) will play at Millbrook (13-1) in the district title game at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Spaid allowed two hits and two runs (none earned) while walking one and striking out six in the first four innings. Bell cleaned up with three innings of one-hit relief, with no walks and six strikeouts.

The Colonels trailed 2-1 heading into the fourth, but used aggressive baserunning to score a pair of runs off of throwing errors. They tacked on two more runs in the sixth, scoring on an error and Spaid's sacrifice fly.

James Wood leaders: Jacob Roy 3 hits; Bodie Pullen 2 hits; Luke Gross 2 hits (double), RBI; Jaden Ashby 2 runs.