By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Beechwood has won five All “A” Classic state championships in baseball and the Tigers have a chance to get one more after winning a sectional game against Bracken County,
10-0, in five innings on Sunday.
The victory puts Beechwood (15-4) in the eight-team state championship tournament to be played this weekend at Campbellsville High School. The Tigers’ first-round opponent will be Hazard (11-8-1) at 10 a.m. Saturday. The semifinal and championship games are scheduled for Sunday.
Beechwood senior Cameron Boyd is one of the state’s leading hitters with a .558 average.
Walton-Verona (15-3) also earned a berth in the small school state championship bracket by defeating Highlands Latin of Louisville, 9-5, in a sectional game played Saturday. The Bearcats will face tournament host Campbellsville (15-5) at 3 p.m. next Saturday.
In the championship games of the last two All “A” Classic state tournaments, Pikeville defeated Beechwood, 10-7, in 2022 and Owensboro Catholic defeated Walton-Verona, 12-2, in 2021.
The entire baseball season was cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic. Prior to that, Beechwood won the small school state tournament four times in six years from 2014 to 2019. The Tigers first state title came in 2006.
Walton-Verona scored five runs in the last two innings to get past Highlands Latin, 9-5, in their sectional final on Saturday.
In the sixth, the Bearcats took an 8-5 lead on a pair of two-run singles by senior Jimmy Shields and junior Cayden Smithers. After picking up an insurance run in the seventh, junior relief pitcher Bryce Corpus nailed down the win.
Senior pitcher Matt Kappes got the shutout in Beechwood’s 10-0 sectional win against Bracken County. The hitting leader for the Tigers was senior Cameron Boyd, who drove in three runs with a double and home run. With three weeks left in the regular season, Boyd has a .558 batting average (38 of 68) with seven home runs and 35 RBI in 19 games.
Beechwood will also have a team in the All “A” Classic fast-pitch softball state tournament next weekend at Jack Fisher Park in Owensboro. Sixteen region champions will compete in pool play on Saturday to determine the eight-team championship bracket on Sunday.
The Beechwood softball team that currently has a 6-7 record will be making its state tournament debut against Raceland (12-7) at 10 a.m. Saturday.
