Midland Christian Shuts Out Concordia Lutheran, Claims TAPPS D1 Championship

 admin  |    May 15th, 2021

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Concordia Lutheran	0	0	0		0	0	0		0		0	4	1
Midland Christian	0	0	0		0	0	1		0		1	2	0

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For most of the season, Midland Christian has relied on a strong and aggressive offense to put together a 17 win season. But in the TAPPS Division 1 State Championship game, it was the pitching performance by Jace Denman and Chandler Caraway that held Concordia Lutheran to 4 hits and no runs and led to a 1-0 victory for the Mustangs and the title of 2021 Division 1 State Baseball Champions.

Denman started the game for Midland Christian and pitched into the 5th inning giving way to Caraway with 2 runners on base and 1 out. Denman pitched 4.1 innings and gave up only 4 hits with 3 strikeouts and 2 walks and no runs. Caraway came in to relieve in the 5th and promptly got two fly outs to end the inning. In the top of the sixth inning, Caraway retired all 3 batters.

But it was in the bottom of the 6th, that Midland Christian took the lead without getting a hit. Tristan Marsh and Rhett Clark started the inning with back to back walks. Concordia Lutheran pitcher Sean Fitzpatrick was able to get strikeouts on the next two batters but on the 2nd strikeout, Marsh stole 3rd base and set up the 1st and 3rd situation.

On the next batter, Clark started for second to draw the throw. He stopped to get into a rundown and Marsh widened his lead at 3rd. Concordia threw over to 3rd and Marsh broke for home. In a hurry, the Concordia 3rd Baseman mishandled the ball, allowing Marsh to score the only run of the game.

With a 1-0 lead, Caraway went back out to the mound for the top of the 7th. He got the first batter to fly out to SS Cody Grebeck and struck out the 2nd batter. With one out to go, Caraway battled with Concordia batter Jaxon Daigre to a full count before Daigre sent a fly ball into the glove of rightfielder Trip Pennington for the final out of the game.

“I wasn’t really nervous,” Caraway described his walk to the mound in the top of the 7th. “I was focused and ready to get out of this inning. I knew I couldn’t do this on my own. I had my teammates behind me. And when I got to the mound I prayed that God would help me and bless me.”

Caraway pitched 2.2 innings and did not allow a baserunner, striking out two batters. For his performance, Caraway was named the THSB Championship Game MVP.

The baseball state championship was the first for Midland Christian since 2012 but it was especially sweet for Coach Mike Robles. “I was an assistant coach in 2014 when we got beat in the semifinals and in 2016 when we got beat by Houston 2nd Baptist. So for me to come here as the Head Coach and win the State Championship is special. I’m having a hard time finding the words to describe how I feel right now.”

“This team had high expectations for the year,” Coach Robles said. “But for the past 3 weeks it’s been a different level of focus for them. They took their game to a new level that I had not seen all year.”

Midland Christian finished the season 18-10 and did not lose a game in the playoffs.