By Craig Brown

If you did not go to Latta on Friday and you are a baseball fan then you missed a good one. What could be better than two cross county rivals fighting for the Lower State Baseball Championship?

The Vikings, under new Head Coach Don Cribb, inherited a lot of returning talent from last season’s team that played for the championship. Coach Cribb brought in the old master coach Bill Bullard from Marion to assist and aided by returning assistant coaches they guided the Vikings to this matchup where their Vikings would face the mighty Wild Gators of Lake View, coached by the legendary Kip Herlong and his staff that have won seven state championship baseball titles. Cloy Ford and Daryl King assisted coach Herlong this season.

Travis Power took the mound for the Vikings and faced Wild Gator lead-off batter Carson Rogers. Rogers sent a solid hit to right field to start things off for the Gators. Weston Rogers hit a hard bouncer to Power on the mound that threw Carson Rogers out at second. Josh Price then sent a ball to deep center field for a double, putting him and Rogers in scoring position. Luc Newell batting in the cleanup slot sent a line shot to left to score Rogers and Price. Justin Elliot sent a deep hit to centerfield where Viking JB Bowen made a great catch and then threw Elliot out at first before he could get back to the base for a double play to put the Vikings at bat, down 2-0.

Carson Rogers took the mound for the Gators and faced JB Bowen. Bowen sent a deep hit to center field that looked like it would go for extra bases but a very talented Wild Gator center fielder named Duane Nichols found a way to get under it and take the long hit away for out one. Travis Power got the ball into left field for a base hit followed by Jackson Williams lining a single to center. Big Donell Stanley drew a walk to load the bases. JK Love then dropped a hit into centerfield to score Power. Christian Hendrix sent a deep and very high fly ball to the outfield for a sacrifice out, scoring Williams to even the score at 2-2. Eric McGirt tagged one to deep right center for a triple that scored Love and Stanley. Colby Lee beat out an infield hit and scored McGirt. Ninth Viking batter, Jeremy Jenkins was thrown out at first on a fielder’s choice play to end the first inning with the Vikings up 5-2.

Brent Herlong led off for the Gators in the top of the second and sent a high shot to right field where Jeremy Jenkins was able to make the play for out number one. Roger Scott drew a walk but was called out at second when Hunter Stevens hit into a fielder’s choice. Duane Nichols moved Stevens to second on a base hit to center. Viking shortstop Colby Lee fielded a hard grounder from Carson Rogers and threw out Nichols at second to put the Vikings back to the plate leading 5-2.

JB Bowen lined the ball to centerfield again and this time he found a way to get the ball out of the sure handed Nichol’s glove for a hit. Bowen showed his speed by stealing second base. Travis Power sent a hit to deep center but Nichols found a way to get to it to make the out and hold Bowen at second. Jackson Williams got to base on one of the rare game errors, moving Bowen to third. Donell Stanley hit into a fielder’s choice and was out at first. JK Love sent a deep hit to center to score Power and Williams, and Christian Hendrix drew a walk. Eric McGirt sent one high into the air in left center but Nichols was there to retire the sides but Latta had added two more runs for a 7-2 lead.

Weston Rogers lead off for Lake View in the top of the third with a base hit to right field. Josh Price then drew a walk to put runners at first and second. Luc Newell hit a grounder to Colby Lee at short that tossed the ball to Avery Berry at second to get Price and Berry relayed to Stanley at first for the double play with Rogers advancing to third base for the Gators. The hopes of bringing Rogers in for the score ended when Justin Elliot got the game’s first strikeout. Elliot is a top hitter in any ones book and it is amazing that the game went as long as it did without a strikeout.

Colby Lee led off for the Vikings in the bottom of the third with a double to center. At this point the Wild Gators thought it best for a pitching change so Carson Rogers went to short stop and side arm pitching Josh Price went to the mound. Lee was able to steal third and with no outs it looked good for Latta. But Price had other ideas and sent Jeremy Jenkins flying out to Stone Spivey in left, Bowen went down swinging, and Power sent a fly ball to Nichols.

Brent Herlong led off with a base hit to center for the Gators in the top of the fourth. Roger Scott laid down a bunt to advance Herlong but Viking catcher Williams throw was off at second and both runners were safe. Hunter Stevens also bunted and was thrown out at first but advanced the runners to second and third. Nichols sent a hard shot to Power on the mound that worked with JK Love at third and Williams at home to get Justin Davis that was pinch running for Herlong into a force out between third and home plate. Carson Rogers went down swinging for the third out to put the Vikings back to bat in the bottom of the fourth.

Jackson Williams led off with a deep fly ball to center where the magnetic glove of Nichols zeroed in and took away another hit. Donell Stanley hit a hopping grounder to second baseman Roger Scott who flipped the ball quickly to Weston Rogers at first for the out. Brent Herlong robbed JK Love of a hit at third with some glove magic and a great throw to first to put the Gators back to bat in the top of the fifth.

Weston Rogers lined one to Travis Power on the mound and he threw the ball to Stanley at first for the out. Josh Price drove one down the third base line where JK Love fielded it and made the throw out to first. Colby Lee fielded Luc Newell’s bouncer at short and threw him out at first to send Latta back to the plate.

Holding onto a 7-2 lead, the Vikings did not seem to find a weak spot in Price’s sidearm style pitching as Christian Hendrix grounded to Roger Scott at second and was thrown out at first. Eric McGirt pop flied out to Luc Newell at catcher. Colby Lee sent a good drive down the third base line but Herlong made the snag and the throw to first for the out to retire the sides.
Justin Elliot got a solid hit to left to lead off in the sixth for the Gators. Brent Herlong followed with a power hit to short but Colby Lee handled the ball and turned the double play. Roger Scott got to base on a walk but Hunter Stevens ended it on a fielder’s choice hit.

In the bottom of the sixth Jeremy Jenkins hit to Carson Rogers at shortstop and was thrown out at first. JB Bowen grounded to Scott at second and was out at first. Travis Power sent one deep to center where, you guessed it, Nichols was waiting for out number three.

Coach Bullard had JK Love warming up in the Latta bullpen and Love seemed to be hurling in the 90 mph zone. But when he took the mound in relief in the top of the seventh he had trouble early on finding the strike zone. Love walked Nichols and Carson Rogers to start off the inning, and Weston Rogers hit into a fielder’s choice getting Carson out at second but advancing Nichols to third. Josh Price loaded the bases with a walk and Luc Newell got a solid hit to left scoring Nichols and Rogers. Love struck out Justin Elliot, but Herlong loaded the bases when he drew a walk.

In the middle of the count against Roger Scott, Coach Bullard pulled Love from the mound. Love was sent back to third base where Dylan Anderson had been brought in to play. Christian Hendrix came from left field to the mound, but finished walking Scott for a run in. Hendrix settled in, got his timing, and struck out Hunter Stevens for the final out to preserve the win.

Coach Cribb had high praise for his opponent after the game, stating they were well coached and very talented. He also had high praise for his team and his coaching staff.

“This is a great group of young men that I have had the pleasure of coaching this year,” said Coach Cribb. Cribb added that the Vikings were very excited about getting another chance at the state title and he knew they were going to give it their best efforts. Coach Cribb has been here six times in the past as an assistant and head coach and this time he hopes to come away with the big win.

Lake View Head Coach Kip Herlong also had praises for his opponent. Coach Herlong stated that both Cribb and especially Bullard had been part of his early coaching training.
“The Vikings are a good team and we wish them well,” added Herlong.

Herlong said it was easy to coach the young men on this team. “They have talent, great attitudes, a willingness to learn and a never give up spirit.”

Only one senior was on this team and nine starters will return for next season and, if the attitude remains, the Wild Gators should be a force to be reckoned with next season. Coach Herlong will be looking for title number eight next season if all goes right.

On the mound for the Wild Gators, Carson Rogers pitched two full innings and one batter in the third. He faced 17 batters, had no strikeouts, walked two batters, and gave up eight hits and seven runs for the loss. Josh Price pitched four innings in relief, and posted one strikeout with no walked batters, no hits, and no runs scored.

On the mound for Latta, Travis Power pitched six innings, faced 26 batters, posted two strikeouts with two walked batters, and allowed seven hits and two runs scored for the win. JK Love faced seven batters, posted one strikeout, walked four batters, and gave up one hit and two runs. Christian Hendrix faced two batters with one walk for one run scored and a strikeout to end the game.

At bat for the Wild Gators, Luc Newell was 2-for-4 with four RBI; Josh Price was 1-for-2 with a double and made it to base on two walks; Duane Nichols was 1-for-2 with a fielder’s choice hit and a walk; Carson Rogers was 1-for-3 with a fielder’s choice hit and a walk; Brent Herlong was 1-for-3 with a walk; Weston Rogers was 1-for-4 with two fielder’s choice hits; Justin Elliot was 1-for-4; Roger Scott got to base on an error and three walks; and Hunter Stevens had three fielder’s choice hits.

At bat for the Vikings, JK Love was 2-for-3 with three RBI; Colby Lee was 2-for-3 with a RBI and a stolen base; Eric McGirt was 1-for-3 with a triple and two RBI; Jackson Williams was 1-for-3 getting to base on an error and had a stolen base; JB Bowen was 1-for-4 with a stolen base; Travis Power was 1-for-4; Christian Hendrix had a sacrifice fly RBI and a walk; Donell Stanley had a fielder’s choice hit and a walk; and Jeremy Jenkins had a fielder’s choice hit.

The Vikings were scheduled to play Monday in Greenville at St. Joseph Catholic and will play in Latta on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. for round two of the Class A State Championship series. If you like baseball, you don’t want to miss this game!

Photos by Craig Brown. Click the images below to view at full size!