SHADY SPRING, WV (WOAY) – It has been an improbable journey for the Shady Spring High School baseball team, but the Tigers can now officially call themselves the reigning Class AA Region 3 Section 2 champions.
Last week, Shady earned not one, but two wins over their Raleigh County rival, the Independence Patriots to win the section.
It was truly a team effort. Seemingly every player had a big performance or play—Cam Manns’ six innings and 12 strikeouts on Wednesday, Adam Richmond’s three-run homerun in that game, in additon to Alex Johnston battling through six innings on Saturday, Tyler Mackey’s incredible outfield assist in that Game 7 and Colten Tate’s two run shot to pad their lead.
Manns said, “I knew the beginning of their lineup was strong, so I had to keep them off balance and mix up my pitches. We came out with the win, and it felt great.”
Mackey explained, “It feels great honestly. We came up short a little bit last year and we wanted to make it up to the seniors from last year and our coaches, and I believe we did just that.”
“Our coach is always saying we’re expected to lose. Nobody expected us to win against the #1 in the state, but we just come out here, have fun and play like we do. And we did,” added Johnston.
“I’m very proud of my whole team and my coaches. They all came out to play today. We couldn’t ask for more.”
The Tigers will now face Bluefield in regionals next week.
“It’s a huge confidence booster going in to face Bluefield, but we’re not done yet,” Manns added.
Mackey said, “We’re a well-oiled machine right now. We’re in midseason form, looking to roll and keep the momentum going. We’re excited, ready to go play Bluefield in the regionals and go to the state championship.”
