St. Luke’s Captures Second Straight 1A Crown;
Charles Henderson Roars Back To Claim 4A Baseball Series;
St. Luke’s Episcopal pounded 14 hits in game two Friday morning to beat Athens Bible 7-3 for the AHSAA Class 1A state baseball championship at Riverwalk Stadium. The Wildcats (36-5) won the state title for the second year in a row.
Charles Henderson rebounded from Thursday’s 6-0 opening loss to Ardmore by winning games two and three to capture their second straight Class 4A state baseball championship.
Austin Ingram hurled a five-hitter in the 14-3 third-game win and Xavius Burden pitched a seven-hitter and struck out six as the Trojans beat Ardmore 9-1 in game two of the AHSAA Class 4A State Baseball Championship Series at Riverwalk Stadium Friday.
Class 1A Game 2: St. Luke's 7, Athens Bible 3
St. Luke’s lead-off hitter Luke Phillips was 4-for-5 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. The junior, who was named Class 1A series MVP, was also called on in the third inning to move from second base to the mound and he responded by shutting down Athens Bible (28-10) over the final 4 2/3 innings to get the win.
Phillips allowed just one hit and struck out one – pitching out of a bases-loaded jam when Coach Tim Becker brought him on with the Wildcats holding a 4-3 lead. Phillips faced only 16 batters the rest of the way to seal the win. Starting pitcher Brandon Book gave up five hits and struck out one over the first 2 1/3 innings.
Drew Dismukes slammed a two-run triple in the first inning, Paul Williamson had three hits and Daniel Haskell and John David Favors added two hits each for St. Luke’s.
Carter Cornell and Drew Ogles managed two hits each for the Trojans. Starter Cole Graviett pitched 2 1/3 innings and suffered the loss. Eighth-grader Kenneth Adams hurled the final 4 2/3 innings, giving up six hits, walking two and striking out seven in a strong relief performance.
Class 1A Game 1: St. Luke's 3, Athens Bible 2
St. Luke’s Episcopal pitcher Leighton Lary fired a four-hitter Thursday night to lead the Wildcats to a 3-2 win over Athens Bible in game one of the AHSAA Class 1A State Baseball Championship Series at Montgomery’s Paterson Field.
Lary (12-2) showed excellent control needing just 73 pitches in the complete-game performance for Coach Tim Becker’s defending state champion Wildcats. Lary struck out two and walked one.
Losing hurler Zach Ivey (9-3) scattered six hits, walked four and also whiffed two in the setback.
Drew Dismukes had a double and sacrifice fly to drive in two of St. Luke’s three runs. John David Favors was the only hitter to collect two hits for St. Luke’s (35-5).
Carter Cornell had two singles and scored a run, and Ivey had an RBI single for Athens Bible (28-9). Cole Graviett also had a double.
The two teams resume play Friday morning at 10 as the series concludes at Riverwalk Stadium. A third game, if needed, will follow at approximately 1 p.m.
Class 4A Game 3: Charles Henderson 14, Ardmore 3
The Trojans put the game out of reach early with seven runs in the second inning. Ingram slammed a three-run homer to ignite the Trojans and later walked with the bases loaded to drive in a fourth run. On the mound, he also struck out two in the five-inning finale.
John Johnson had a single, two walks and scored three runs for Coach Derek Irons’ Trojans (38-10). He provided a big spark by stealing home in game three. Chase Smartt had two singles and three RBIs and Jason Fleming had a single, two walks and three runs scored.
Kenneth Embrey had two hits, and Cody Reed, Hayden Durrett and Garrett Miller each had an RBI single for Ardmore.
Cody Elliott started and got the loss for Coach Andrew Smith’s Tigers (27-11).
Class 4A Game 2: Charles Henderson 9, Ardmore 1
Burden (8-1) walked just one as he kept the Ardmore hitters off-stride to get the win. Charles Henderson (40-10) collected nine hits but also took advantage of eight Tigers errors.
Austin Ingram drove in two runs with a double, Hunter Baggett also had two hits, and Chase Smartt and Chase Hartley also had doubles for the Trojans.
Hunter Moore led Ardmore (27-10) with two hits and Tommy Davidson had a double.
Garrett Miller (5-3) started and took the loss. He allowed five hits and seven runs in three innings but only two of the runs were earned. Brandon Jones pitched the final four innings, allowing four hits and two runs.
Class 4A Game 1: Ardmore 6, Charles Henderson 0
Senior left-hander Cody Reed limited Charles Henderson to just three hits Thursday night at Paterson Field as Ardmore blanked the Trojans 6-0 to capture game one of the Class 4A State Baseball Championship Series. The two teams will move to Riverwalk Stadium Friday for game two at 4 p.m. with game three set to follow at 7 if needed.
Reed (10-2), a Vanderbilt signee, walked none and struck out 13 while facing only 23 batters – two above the limit of 21 for a seven-inning game. He also was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs batted in.
Catcher Hunter Moore also had a double and single and one RBI, and Thomas Davidson had two hits including a triple for Coach Andrew Smith’s Tigers (27-9).
Chase Smartt, Austin Ingram and Reiley Fox each had a single for Charles Henderson (36-10).
Reed has 226 strikeouts in 92 innings this season, one shy of the state record (227) set by Tyler Stovall of Hokes Bluff in 2007. Reed also has a 0.46 ERA, which ranks seventh best in AHSAA history.