FAYETTEVILLE -- Zach Jamison did it all in earning MVP honors Friday afternoon in the Class 4A state championship game.
Jamison had 2 hits, pitched 3 innings of 3-hit relief and started a game-ending double play by stabbing a blistering line drive as the Nashville Scrappers defeated Shiloh Christian 4-1 at Baum Stadium to earn their first state baseball title since 2007.
"He's the best player on our team, so I'm glad they hit it to him," Nashville Coach Kyle Slayton said of Jamison's catch. "The game came down to defense and pitching, and I thought we did those things."
The Scrappers (30-7) scored one run in each of their last four at-bats to put away the Saints (25-8), who have four state tournament titles to their credit since 2010.
Nashville scored an unearned run in the third inning when Shiloh Christian senior second baseman fumbled Jayden Hostetler's ground ball. Junior Chris Willard singled in a run in the fourth. Junior pinch-hitter J.R. Middleton hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and senior Austin Bowman singled in a run in the sixth.
It could have been much worse for Shiloh Christian; Nashville left 12 runners stranded.
"They found a way to scrape and scratch a run across several innings in a row," Shiloh Christian Coach Moe Henry said. "They played their game and found a way to score."
Shiloh Christian starting pitcher Landon Brown struck out 7 batters in the first 3 innings, but the junior also walked 6 and was relieved after throwing 78 pitches.
"[Brown] threw about 250 pitches in the last seven days, so we really didn't think he would be as sharp as he had been," Slayton said. "That's kind of how we live. We're very good defensively, and we're good on the mound, but we struggle a little bit at the plate. If we can get some help from you by getting a walk or a couple of errors, I feel like we've got a chance."
"[Nashville] had a great approach at the plate," Henry said. "They did a good job of getting Brown's pitch count up."
Shiloh Christian had no more than one hit in any inning, but the Saints made the game interesting in the seventh when sophomore Josh Rhodes walked and senior Amos Yarbrough singled to right field.
Two batters later, Jamison snagged Jake Nelson's hard-hit line drive before throwing to first to complete the double play.
"I was not expecting it, but when I saw it come at me I was thinking that's two outs, and all we need is one more," Jamison said. "But everyone in our dugout was hollering 'one.' I turned around and to my disbelief the runner was still halfway off the bag."
Nashville picked up the first out of the seventh inning when Willard made a diving stop at shortstop to keep Connor Clark's hard-hit grounder from going into center field.
"That was huge, huge," Jamison said. "When that ball went up the middle, I thought that was a run scored. But [Willard] laid out and got full extension for the first out, and the first out of the last inning is always the biggest one."
Junior Tyler Hanson started for Nashville and earned the victory. He lasted 4 innings, allowing 3 hits while walking 3 and striking out 3. He came out after issuing a leadoff walk to start the fifth.
In Jamison's three innings, he gave up three hits but walked only one.
Shiloh Christian picked up its lone run in the fourth without the benefit of a hit. A hit batter and two walks loaded the bases before Braden Mueller drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
The Saints did collect a hit later in the inning, but they failed to score when Trace Beene's throw from center field cut down junior Luke Johnson at home.
"I thought they would struggle to score runs," Slayton said of Shiloh Christian. "They did [struggle]. And we made some big plays. It just all worked out.
"This is my 20th year of coaching, and I've always wanted to win 30 games and a state championship. We did that today."
Sports on 05/20/2017