| | | Description |
On friday afternoon in front of a large and energetic crowd at mtsu, the 2009 choctaw baseball team made school history by becoming the first squad to win a state championship.
behind seven solid innings from super freshman colton harris (13-0), solid defense and a barrage of hits offensively, dyer county secured the crown with the 8-4 win over knoxville catholic.
ironically enough, harris ended the seventh the way he did the first, with a strikeout.
after both teams failed to threaten in the first inning, the choctaws benefited from an irish miscue in the top of the second to plate the first run of the game.
patterson reached on an error and stole second before nick newell continued his hitting heroics at the state tourney, ripping a zach rogers offering down the right field line for an rbi-double.
though the irish worked out of the inning without further damage, the one run seemed to inspire harris and the choctaws, evident after the left-hander faced the minimum in the bottom half of the inning.
after a quiet third inning, dyer county looked to add to its total in the top of the fourth.
biscuit bevis led off the frame with a walk before patterson was hit by a pitch to put two aboard. teammate tyler roberson grounded out but advanced the runners to second and third, bringing newell back to the dish.
staying hot, newell ripped the first pitch seen down the right field line for a 2-rbi double and a 3-0 dyer county lead.
while it looked like the choctaws were in position to break the game wide open, the irish battled back in the bottom of the fourth, getting two runs on three hits to trail 3-2 after four complete innings.
after adding a run in the sixth, the choctaws held a 4-2 advantage going to the top of the seventh.
evidently the squad wasn't comfortable with a 2-run lead and being three outs away from their first state title in the history of the program.
keaton gregory singled before shea thomas reached with a 1-out single. with runners at first and third, dylan haycraft got all of an irish offering and deposited the ball on one bounce over the wall in deep center field for n rbi-double.
the irish entered their third pitcher of the day and he was welcomed to the dance by biscuit bevis with a 2-rbi single to push the advantage to 7-2.
patterson was responsible for the final run of the championship game, drilling a fastball off the wall in dead center to plate a hustling bevis from first base.
the irish scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh before harris fanned the final batter to end the game as the choctaws and their fans erupted with good reason -- they had just won the tssaa state tournament.
ozment was elated after it was over and rightly so. after receiving a gatorade bath from senior members of the squad, the head coach talked about this year's squad and what they had accomplished.
"these guys have done something special for our school and our community. our first trip was seven years ago, and we said then that one day we would leave here as state champions. it's taken a lot of hard work and dedication by this entire team to get to where we are today and i couldn't be more proud of each and every member of this team. this accomplishment is the ultimate prize for our baseball program."
the no.1-ranked choctaws end the season with a 40-5 overall record, and a state championship.
| | Tags : DYER, COUNTY, DCHS, WINS, STATE, TOURNAMENT, CHAMPIONSHIP, CHAMPIONS, BEAT, KNOXVILLE, CATHOLIC, 8-4, AA, TSSAA, SPRING, FLING, MTSU, MIDDLE, TENNESSEE, UNIVERSITY, DOGPILE, DOG, PILE, CHOCTAWS, NEWBERN, DYERSBURG, DHS, TROJANS, TITLE, HIGH, SCHOOL, DIVISION, GOODPASTURE, PIGEON, FORGE, WEST, BASEBALL, PRESTON, OZMENT |
|
