In a Battle of the Eagles, Second Baptist Comes Out on Top Winning the TAPPS D2 State Championship!
Last night, Second Baptist (SBS) defeated Southwest Christian (SCS) 10-7 to take home the TAPPS D2 State Title. The game was a back-and-forth battle until Second Baptist scored 5 in the top of the seventh giving Southwest Christian only one inning to attempt to battle back and win.
James Lewis started the game off for SCS on a good note, getting all three Second Baptist batters out on just 11 pitches.
In the bottom of the first, Jackson Burns hit a leadoff single for SCS. However, Second Baptist still managed to go three up and three down as Burns was caught stealing, and Second Baptist Pitcher Ethan Eschweiler produced two more easily fielded outs.
After a walk from Turner Murdock, a single from Ben Kalife, and a sacrifice bunt from Sam Garcia, SBS had runners on the corners with only one out. However, Southwest Christian Pitcher James Lewis struck out the next batter and produced a fly ball out to leave the half-inning scoreless for Second Baptist.
In the bottom of the second, after two straight SBS errors, Southwest Christian had two runners on with no outs. Josh Blanco stole third to get in prime scoring position and came around to score when Cooper Kirkpatrick grounded into a double play. The score was 0-1 with Second Baptist behind after the 2nd.
To start the third, the first two SBS batters walked (Jackson Clark and Jace Trozzo). Christian McCleary had a sacrifice bunt putting the runners on 2nd and 3rd. Then, in response, Wes Baker put the ball in play via a groundout driving in a run to tie the game 1-1.
Ethan Eschweiler struck out the first two Southwest Christian Batters in the bottom of the third and produced a fieldable line drive to center field for the third out to keep the game tied going into the fourth inning.
In the fourth, SBS took advantage of walks and errors scoring 3 runs. A walk from Ben Kalife, an error, and another walk from Sam Arrendell loaded the bases for SBS. Thomas Womble then singled, giving Second Baptist a 2–1 lead. After another walk from Jace Trozzo scored a run, Sam Arrendel was caught stealing home, making the score 3-1 with two outs. Jack Kale came into pitch for Southwest Christian with a 2-0 count on Wes Baker. Directly following, Baker walked in another run before Kale struck out Turner Murdock to end the inning.
Southwest Christian attempted to answer back in the bottom of the fourth as Austin Dyke hit a leadoff single. However, after a double play and a ground out the score remained 4-1 in favor of SBS.
Jack Kale came back out to pitch for SCS and had an impressive half-inning. He went three up three down, striking out two and producing a weak pop-up.
Southwest Christian began to chip away at their three-run deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning. After two straight walks from Cooper Kirkpatrick and Bryce Kolb, Kirkpatrick scored on a sacrifice bunt by Slaid Chandler. After the 5th, the score was 4-2 with SCS still trailing.
In the top of the sixth, with two outs and a runner on first, Christian McCleary doubled scoring Salazar, making the score 5 -2 in favor of Second Baptist.
Two walks from Jackson Burns and Jack Kale, and a single from Austin Dyke, filled the bases for SCS in the bottom of the sixth with no outs. Josh Blanco then hit a sacrifice fly to score Burns and an RBI groundout by Barrett Portwood made the score 5-4. Then, to tie it, Cooper Kirkpatrick hit a deep fly ball to left field, scoring Jack Kale.
Not accepting defeat, Second Baptist scored five runs in the top of the 7th. A single from Turner Murdock, and a double from Ben Kalife, put runners on the corners with no outs. Sam Garcia then singled to give Second Baptist a 6-5 lead. Next, Sam Arrendell singled on a bunt, and Ben Kalife came around to score. With runners on first and second, Christian McCleary doubled driving in two more runs making the score 9-5. Wes Baker finished off the scoring for SBS in the seventh, singling on a line drive to center field.
Going into the bottom of the 7th, the score was 10-5 in favor of Second Baptist. SCS needed five to keep the game going and six to win it.
After a fly out, a walk from Alex Thurman, and a fielder’s choice out, one runner was on for SCS with two outs. Austin Dyke then singled and Jack Kale was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Southwest Christian. A heroic single from Josh Blanco drove in two runs, putting SCS in just 3 three-run deficit. However, SBS Pitcher Jackson Clark was able to close out the game striking out the next batter on three pitches. The Second Baptist dugout erupted as they stormed the field to celebrate their TAPPS D2 State Championship win!
Christian McCleary went 2-3 with 3 RBIs and a walk propelling Second Baptist to their State Championship win. McCleary could not stop smiling after the game. “It feels amazing!”, he exclaimed, talking about Second Baptist’s win. “It took a lot of hard work to get here,” McCleary continued, “[Southwest Christian] is very tough, and we’ve gone through a lot the past two years, and it just feels amazing to come out with a win.”
