An incredible state tournament performance that resulted in the first championship appearance in program history ended just shy of that elusive title with a 6-5 heartbreaker to Latta in the 2A Division 1 finale on Saturday at Shawnee.
The Leopards reached the finals for the first time in school history by edging rival Calera, 2-1, before upsetting top-ranked Dale in a 2-0 semifinal blanking.
Coach Zach Crabtree’s squad, which finished with a 31-7 record, rode exceptional pitching and defense through a pair of stellar mound outings from seniors Kaden Neill and Tucker Shields.
Neill got the start in the Calera showdown and came out on the victorious end of a pitcher’s duel as the big righthander yielded just one run on four hits, struck out eight and walked a pair.
Colbert managed just five hits themselves but made them count. Ian Jordan’s oneout double to center in the fourth inning provided the ignition as Hudson Brigman followed with a single to left and Shields forced in the run on a sacrifice bunt.
Calera notched two of its four hits in the fifth to cash in the tying run, but it wouldn’t last long as Isaiah Lopez doubled to left on the second pitch of the bottom of the frame. A Reese bunt advanced the runner, who then scored on a passed ball.
Jordan and Bridgman finished with two hits apiece to lead the Leopard offense.
In the semifinals, Shields slammed the door on the Dale offense by allowing a lone single in the fourth inning. Dale’s biggest threat came in the fifth after a pair of free passes but Shields was up to the task, coaxing three straight ground outs to begin a string of nine straight Pirates retired to close the game. He ended with four strikeouts and three walks.
The Leopards made two first inning runs stand up the entire contest as Reese drew a two-out walk and Neill followed with a two-run homer over the leftfield wall.
It was all Colbert to start the championship matchup as the Leopards sprinted to a 3-0 lead in the opening stanza. Trevor Jackson singled, Lopez bunted him to second, Reese walked and Neill knocked in the first run with a single to center. Two more walks forced in a run and Jordan’s sacrifice fly capped the scoring.
Latta took advantage of wildness to answer with four runs of its own in the second frame, cashing in four free passes and only one hit.
Reliever Parker Nesbitt settled in on the mound after that and Colbert pushed across the tying run in the fourth inning as Shields led off with a hit and eventually scored on a Reese RBI groundout.
The Leopards added a go-ahead run in the sixth when Shields tripled and scored on a balk and looked to be only three outs away from their first state title. Latta had other ideas however, capitalizing on two free passes and a pair of singles to reclaim the lead in the top of the frame.
Neill led off the bottom of the seventh with a single but was retired on a game-ending double play.
Colbert picked up two hits apiece by Neill and Shields with Jackson, Eric Hokett and Jordan adding one each.
