CLASS 2A BASEBALL

Michals a bear for Woodlawn

FAYETTEVILLE -- Woodlawn came up with only one hit Saturday morning but it did not deter the Bears from winning their fourth state title in the last nine years.

Sophomore pitcher Reece Michals tossed a complete-game three-hitter and the Bears took advantage of Junction City's wildness to post a 2-0 victory over the Dragons in the Class 2A state championship at Baum Stadium.

Junior Spencer Scallion drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth inning and the Bears (29-2) added a run in the sixth when sophomore Trey Scallion scored from second on a passed ball.

It was all the offense the Bears could muster and it was all the offense they needed against a Junction City team that never sent any more than four batters to the plate in any one inning.

Michals allowed three hits, all of them two-out singles. He struck out 4, walked 2 and retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.

"Reece Michals did a heckuva job," said Woodlawn Coach Tommy Richardson, whose roster has six freshmen, seven sophomores, five juniors and no seniors. "All these guys are babies, so you don't know how they're going to react. ... The X-factor was our youth, but we handled it well."

Junction City's Will Smith singled to left with two outs in the first, but Michals struck out Hunter Brantley to end the inning. Blake McLelland singled with two outs in the third and stole second base, but Colton Sellers grounded out to third. Colton Pratt singled with two outs in the fourth, but Joe Lowe's liner to center was caught by Nick Willis.

"[Michals] did a good job of keeping us off-balanced with his change up and curveball," Junction City Coach Joe Paul Hammett said. "We couldn't get on him good. ... We couldn't get the good hit to give us the lead like we normally have all year. But I'm proud of my guys. When you give up only one hit, you ought to win."

Junction City (28-9) was shut out for the first time this season.

"There's no secret to what I did," Michals said. "I threw strikes. I knew if I did that, I had a defense that would back me up."

Brantley, Junction City's starting pitcher, struck out five in his first three innings, but he ran into trouble in the fourth, issuing a lead-off walk to Chance Johnson and one-out walks to Trey Scallion and Willis.

Hammett replaced Brantley with Smith, who promptly walked Spencer Scallion to score courtesy runner Kolten Barnes with the Bears' first run.

Lowe made a diving catch of Nick Ward's sinking line drive in left field, saving the Dragons from allowing what could have a big inning.

Trey Scallion picked up Woodlawn's lone hit with a lead-off single in the sixth. He moved to second on a wild pitch. Smith struck out Spencer Scallion on a 1-2 pitch, but the ball got away from catcher Clay Jolley. Trey Scallion took third on the passed ball and came around to score on Jolley's throw to first for the putout on Spencer Scallion.

Brantley drew a walk to lead off the seventh and Pratt was looking at a 3-0 count before Michals recovered. The Woodlawn pitcher got Pratt to hit into a force out, struck out Lowe and induced a ground ball back to the mound by Chad Butler to end the game.

"He was one pitch away from me coming and getting him," Richardson said. "He had one more pitch to make and he made it. I stuck with him because their bottom half of the order hadn't touched him all day."

Brantley struck out 5 and walked 5 in 3 1/3 innings. Smith struck out 3 and walked 1 in 2 2/3 innings.

"They're good, but that was a tribute to us," Richardson said. "We're built on plate discipline. We missed some pitches and we hit some pitches right at them. I knew Brantley was good and Smith was good. I knew what we were going to see."

Sports on 05/22/2016

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