2021 1A State Championship Game

admin | Jun 10th, 2021

Kennard v Fayetteville

It was Kennard’s first trip to the State Tournament. It was Fayeteville’s 8^th. Today, none of that mattered as it would be these players first State Championship game. None of the players have the coveted ring. The morning was beautiful. Dell Diamond is a special place to play. Kennard would start Jaden Kulms on the mound with Jacob Catoe receiving pitches while Fayetteville would start Keagan Supak with Logan Fritsch behind the plate.

Kulms starts the game off with a weak ground ball back to him for the first out. But would walk the next two. Logan Fritsch would line a ball to left field. It was misjudged and both runners would score. Fritsch ended up on 3^rd. Kulms gets Vitek to chase for the second out. Jake Kubala singled to right to score Fritsch from 3^rd. Despite a Aiden Wicke walk, the Fayetteville scoring was done in the first as Kulms would get another weak ground ball to end the inning. Kulms starts the bottom half with a ball hammered up the middle. A stolen base and a balk moved him over to third. Dylan Cole would single to right and drive him in. At the end of the first it was 3-1 Fayetteville.

The baserunning started up again in the 2^nd as Landon Urban reached on an error then stole second. Supak would fly out to second. Reid Gross would move him over to third but be thrown out at first. Travis Gully was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners. Gully would steal second with Kennard trying to make a play back at home when Fritsch broke for home. He was safe and Gully would move up to third. A ground out to shortstop Dylan Cole ended the inning.

Travis Gully would bobble a ground ball to start the bottom of the second but showed off his arm to get the out at first. Supak would strike out the next batter. Adrian Montero smokes a ball to left center but a sniper got him rounded first and he stumbled. He had to return and settle for a single. Supak left him there as he struck out Elijah Dowdy to end the 2^nd. Fayetteville’s Vitek leads off the 3^rd with a double and gets moved to third but his thrown out at home trying to score on a sac bunt attempt. Kennard’s Kulms ends the top of 3 with a strikeout. He would be the first batter to start the bottom of the 3^rd but would fly out to shortstop. Keyton Lumbreraz took some big hacks but Supak would win the battle and strike him out. Dylan Cole reached on an error and then steals 3^rd. That’s as far as he gets as a groundout to short ends the inning.

Fayetteville would get really aggressive on the base paths in the 4^th but have a runner thrown out at second and at home. They were only able to score 1 in the top of the 4^th. Supak gets a popout to start the bottom of the fourth. A walk, a flyout to left and a strikeout and the fourth would end with a score of 5-1 Fayetteville. Kennard’s Kulms would get two quick strikeouts before Aiden Wicke singled to right. He would leave him there as the inning ended with a strikeout of Cooper Mau. Kennard would go down in order in their half of the 5^th: 6-3, 1u, 6-3. At the end of the 5^th, it was still 5-1 Fayetteville.

From a couple of walks and a balk Fayetteville would get runners to second and third with 2 outs but couldn’t score in the top of the 6^th. Kennard would string together a walk and a couple of singles by Jacob Catoe and Caleb Alfred. Cade Collingsworth would reach on a fielder’s choice and plate Ryan Pilkington who had led off with a walk. At the end of the sixth it was 5-2 Fayetteville.

In the 7^th, Fayetteville would have 2 out rally after loading the bases with 2 outs. They could only push 1 insurance run across when Jake Kubala scored on a passed ball. Supak would give up a leadoff single. His day would be done finishing with 6 strikeouts on the day. Travis Gully would take the mound. Kennard wouldn’t go down quietly as they scored two in the 7^th. The game would end after a sacrifice fly and 2 strikeouts.

WP – Keagan Supak
Save – Travis Gully

LP – Jaden Kulms

Player of the Game: Keagan Supak