Tri-County Academy baseball wins state championship

The Tri-County Academy Rebels claimed the MAIS 4A Championship in Baseball this month with a 5-0 win over Kirk Academy at home in Flora.

The Rebels finish the season 28-7 and undefeated in district play. Head Coach R.J. Barrett said he is proud of his team.

“It was an interesting ride,” Barrett said. “It was fun. They overcame every obstacle.”

Senior first baseman Connor Hillman said they started out the season “up and down” but soon found their rhythm.

“We started figuring it out at practice and at one point we realized we had a good shot at making a long playoff run this year,” Hillman said.

You cannot make a longer run than the Rebels did this year. After beating riverfield 7-2 in game three of the semifinals, they knew they would be headed to Grenada to face Kirk Academy.

The team agreed that game was crucial.

“If we beat them there we knew we could win at home no matter what,” sophomore pitcher Luke Power said.

It came down to good defense, Tanner Blackwell, a senior pitcher said.

“No specific moment stands out in my mind but the whole first game for sure stands out,” Blackwell said. “We faced a good arm, scratching a run in the first, but the defense did a wonderful job holding Kirk to no runs allowing us to win the game.”

The following day, the Rebels would blank Kirk Academy again, 5-0, securing the championship in two games.

“The feeling after the game was over is unexplainable,” Blackwell said. “The feeling of overcoming what our team overcame and getting the job done was something very special. It felt awesome.”

Hillman said he could not believe it at first.

“Tri-County has not won state in a long time,” Hillman said. “This was really big. It doesn’t happen very often.”