| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |||
| Northland Christian | . | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | . | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| Temple Christian | . | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | . | 5 | 7 | 1 |
Temple Christian grabbed the early lead and relief pitcher Wilson Russell held off the Northland Christian Cougars for a 5-3 win to capture the TAPPS Division IV State Championship Title. Temple Christian finished the season with a 29-2 record.
Temple Christian scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the 2nd when David Smith singled home Griffin Roark. Northland Christian rebounded by scoring two of their own in the top of the 3rd on Stone Walker and Cole Carnes RBIs to take the lead 2-1.
But Temple Christian had a big inning in the bottom of the 3rd. Bear Herak scored on a Brody Coen RBI, Rylan Alaniz scored on a bases loaded HBP on Roark and Wilson Russell scored on a Landry Limas Sac Fly.
Down 4-2 in the top of the 4th, Northland Christian’s first two batters drew walks. Coach J.T. Herak then brought in Wilson Russell in relief. Wilson got outs on the next three batters to kill the Northland Christian threat. Wilson went on to pitch the rest of the game and only gave up one unearned run when Northland Christian baserunner Benjamin Harrison scored on an error. Temple Christian picked up an insurance run in the 6th when Landon Kille scored on a Northland Christian fielding error.
Russell finished the game pitching 4 innings, giving up only 1 hit and 1 walk, allowing 1 unearned run while striking out two. He was also 1-3 at the plate and scored a run. He was named the THSB Player of the Game.
“I knew I was the first reliever for the game today but I was expecting our starter to go a little further,” Russell explained. “I just concentrated on pounding the zone, keeping it low and hoping to get ground balls. At the end I was just trying to relax and close it out.”
Coach Herak also commented on Russell’s performance. “He was gutsy. We put the pressure on him and he responded. We just wanted to get an inning or two out of him but he kept wanting the ball and go back out. He told me ‘I got it!’ When a kid says he’s got it, we trust him like they trust us.” On the state championship “We had no doubt we would be here at the beginning of the season. Nothing was easy. We felt like we needed to finish what we started last year. And they believed. All of them. From player one to the last player.”
THSB Player of the Game – Wilson Russell
