Barbers Hills Claims 5A State Championship in Tight Ballgame

From the beginning to the end, the 5A State Championship Game was a tight game for two teams vying for their first Baseball State Championship. It was only fitting that Barbers Hill scored the winning run in the bottom of the 6th on a controversial play. With the win, Barbers Hills wears the crown as the 2021 5A State Baseball Champions, the first in school history.

Barbers Hill scored the first run in the contest in the bottom of the 1st. SS Cameron Cauley led of with a base hit and was moved to 2nd on a Jace Martinez Sac Bunt. Catcher Brody Williams hit a hard ground ball up the middle and in a strong effort to field the ball, Hallsville 2B Sawyer Dunagan had it go off of his glove into no man’s land, allowing Cauley to score from 2nd.

Hallsville tied the game in the top of the 3rd. CF Brayden Walker took 1st on a Fielders Choice. With two outs, Walker stole 2nd and then scored on an error Barbers Hill’s 1B Simon Larranaga, tying the game at 1-1.

The game stayed tied until the bottom of the 6th. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, DH Josh Campbell hit a fly ball to centerfield. Martinez tagged from 3rd and scored, giving Barbers Hill a 2-1 lead. And then the big controversy happened. Courtesy Runner Kyle Isaacks had also tagged from 2nd Base on the Campbell fly ball. Hallsville appealed that he left too early and Isaacks was called out. The umpire took the run off the board leaving the game at 1-1. However, after conferring together, the umpires ruled that the run did count, giving Barbers Hill their 2-1 lead back. The reversal obviously was not popular with Hallsville Head Coach Scott Mitchell and the Hallsville fans.

In the top of the 7th, winning pitcher Raithen Malone, who had come in to relieve in the 4th inning, got a strikeout, a ground out and a foul ball fly out to secure the win and state championship. Malone pitched the last 3.1 innings, gave up only 1 hit and struck out 3. He was named the Championship MVP by the media. “I felt no pressure at all,” Senior 2B/P Malone explained as he went out on the mound in the 7th. “It’s what I’ve been dreaming of since I was in middle school. We did it. Time to celebrate.”

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