Walton swept two-time defending state champion Lowndes (7-0, 10-3) for its fourth all-time state championship and first since 2016. In Game 1, Walton’s Jackson Taylor drew a leadoff walk in the top of the first inning and Walker Killimett singled to left field to put Taylor in scoring position. A wild pitch advanced Taylor to third and Killimett to second before Logan Wideman drove home Taylor on a groundout to Lowndes shortstop Cason Fletcher. Later in the inning, Parker Dastou drove home Killimett on an infield single and the Raiders left the inning with a 2-0 lead.
Walton’s Hyland Brown went the distance at the mound for the Raiders and surrendered just three hits on 93 total pitches with no extra base hits and three strikeouts. Offensively, Walton tacked on two runs in the fourth and sixth inning and added one run in the top of the fifth while out-hitting the Vikings 10-3 in the victory. Taylor scored three of Walton’s seven runs and six different Raiders drove in runs in Game 1 with Wideman leading the way with a team-high two RBI. In Game 2, Lowndes opened up a 3-0 lead before Walton countered with a six-run bottom of the frame. The Raiders added an insurance run in the third inning to grow the lead to 7-3 and then tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to push the lead to 10-3 with just three outs remaining. Killimett, Wheeler, Dastou, Crowell, Haber, Reuter and Haley each drove in runs in the Game 2 victory. Josh Segal started for Walton in Game 2 and went 3.2 innings before Ahren Smith closed out the final 3.1 for the victory. Smith gave up just one hit and struck out the side in the top of the seventh to seal deliver the title back to Walton and complete a dominant championship sweep for the Raiders.
Class 3A
Troup 5-0, Cherokee Bluff 1-15 (series tied 1-1)
Junior Jake Perry pitched a complete game in Troup’s 5-1 Game 1 victory and surrendered five hits while striking out five batters. The game was tied 0-0 until the bottom of the second inning when Troup built a 2-0 lead. Perry singled down the left side to drive home Trey Dean and later in the inning Torreion Delaney scored Parker Townsend with his RBI double down the right field line. Ethan Goff’s RBI double, Delaney’s RBI single and Edwards’ RBI single down the right side tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to grow Troup’s lead to 5-0. Tucker Holton got Cherokee Bluff on the board in the top of the fifth inning with an RBI single to center field, but Perry closed out the next two frames to seal the win. In Game 2, Cherokee Bluff broke open the game in the bottom of the third with eight runs off six hits and took a commanding 8-0 lead. The Bears added seven more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to grow the lead to 15-0 and clinched the victory after the mercy rule. Tucker Holton earned the win in Game 2 and finished with just two hits allowed and an efficient 69 total pitches. Cherokee Bluff scored its 15 runs off of nine hits and stranded just one batter in the Game 2 barrage. The teams will return to AdventHealth Stadium on Wednesday for Game 3 and are both in search for the program’s first-ever state title.
Class A Div. II
Wilcox County 5-6, Lanier County 1-16 (series tied 1-1)
Wilcox County ace Johnny Nutt pitched a complete game three-hitter in Game 1 with 13 strikeouts to lead the Patriots. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when Wilcox County took advantage of a Jackson Smith leadoff triple and a pair of errors later in the frame to give the Patriots a 2-0 lead. Lanier County shrunk the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the sixth inning before the Patriots added three insurance runs in the bottom of the frame. Junior Deacon McDuffie connected on an infield single to shortstop that drove in two of the three runs (both unearned) after a throwing error. Later in the inning junior Myles Davis scored on a wild pitch that resulted in the fourth unearned run of the game and pushed the lead to 5-1. Lanier County opened up a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning of Game 2 and never trailed. Wilcox County successfully evened up the game 3-3 in the top of the third after a Smith RBI single that came in the second inning. An RBI by Griffin drove home Bloodworth and put Howell on third base and he reached home after a balk was called on Ashton Cook. In the bottom of the frame, Cook singled and eventual crossed the plate on an RBI single by Talen Tarbox to put Lanier County up 4-3. Lanier County added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth inning and then tallied four more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning after Wilcox County knotted the game up 5-5 to make it a 9-5 advantage. The Patriots narrowed the gap to 9-6 with one run in the top of the sixth inning before Lanier County iced the game with a mercy rule after a seven-run bottom of the sixth inning to push the lead to 16-6. Contreras pitched 4.1 innings before Cook came in and closed out the final 1.2 innings to earn the victory. Game 3 will be played on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at JI Clements Stadium.
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