By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Walton-Verona and Brossart earned berths in the All “A” Classic small-school state baseball tournament by winning sectional playoff games this week.
Walton-Verona junior pitcher Braxton Foley. (Photo by Carla Martin)
Walton-Verona won a pitchers duel against Kentucky Country Day, 2-1, on Wednesday and Brossart edged Newport Central Catholic, 6-5, on Thursday to advance to the eight-team state tournament on May 6-7 at Whitaker Bank Park in Lexington.
Logan Harris
Junior right-hander Braxton Foley allowed only one run on three hits in Walton-Verona’s victory. He retired the last 12 batters he faced and finished with 10 strikeouts.
The Bearcats’ scored the winning run in the sixth inning when junior Logan Harris hit a solo home run over the right field fence.
This is the first time since 2012 that Walton-Verona has made it to the All “A” Classic state tournament. The Bearcats currently have a 14-4 record and five-game winning streak.
“I knew we had a good team starting the year and we are on a good roll right now,” said first-year head coach Clint Coleman. “We sat down at the beginning of the year as a team to write down our goals and making it to and winning All A state was at the top of the list. We are excited about the (sectional) win and look to keep rolling in Lexington.”
Coleman said two senior captains have played important roles in the team’s success this season. James Tilley has a team-leading .540 batting average and Jeremy Moran has a 3-0 record on the mound.
Chase Keller
In the other sectional game, Brossart took a 3-0 lead in the third inning against NewCath and stayed on top by scoring one run in each of the last three innings to come away with the win. A two-run double by senior Chase Keller put the Mustangs on the board. In the seventh inning, he reached base on a fielder’s choice, stole second and third, and then scored what proved to be the deciding run on a ground out.
Brossart coach Ron Verst put Keller on the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning in relief of starting pitcher Zach Hamberg. After giving up a run that cut the Mustangs’ lead to 6-5, Keller got the final two outs to seal the victory.
NewCath defeated Brossart, 11-1, in the first week of the season, but the Thoroughbreds stranded 10 runners on base in Thursday’s rematch. The win evened Brossart’s record at 9-9. The Mustangs will play in the small-school state tournament for the first time since 2011 when they lost in the championship game.
The first two games in this year’s All “A” Classic state tournament on Saturday, May 6, will be Walton-Verona vs. Lexington Christian at 10 a.m. and Brossart vs. Caldwell County at noon. The winners of those games will face off in a semifinal game at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, May 7 with the championship game set for 1 p.m. that day.
Beechwood won two of the last three small-school state tournaments and NewCath took the title in 2013.
