Young talent delivers state championship to Calvary Christian
Talk about a youth movement.
The Calvary Christian School baseball team got big performances from freshmen and an eighth grader, sweeping two games against Covenant Academy of Macon on Friday to win the GICAA state baseball championship. It’s the first championship in a varsity boys’ team sport in the school’s four-decade history.
The Knights, which finished the season 24-11, had made it to the final four of the state playoffs in each of head coach Steve Smith’s five seasons with the team. “In years past, you look at our team on paper and say we have a strong chance to win a state championship. This year, we had a very, very young team and knew this was going to be a challenging year.
“We liked what we had with talent but there was no track record.”
To make matters worse, in the last game of the regular season, the Knights lost three starters to injury. Smith turned to the youngsters.
One of them was Jesse Donohoe, a freshman who moved down to the junior varsity team after struggling at the plate during the season. The late-season injuries sent him back into the lineup.
In the first game of the state finals, Donohoe ripped a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Knights a 15-2 lead and end the game on the mercy rule.
Outfielder Luke Norman, an eighth grader, led the Knights with three hits, and freshman pitcher Nick Morgan got the win, giving up only three hits in six innings.
The second game went the distance and featured 24 runs on 28 hits with only two strikeouts. Calvary prevailed, outscoring Covenant 15-9.
The Knights cruised to a 5-0 lead in the first inning, but Covenant tied the game 9-9 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
In the top of the seventh, the veterans got into the action. Junior Stephen Smith slapped a double to score Donohoe and senior Hunter Qualls and give the Knights an 11-9 lead.
For the game, Donohoe and Norman again led the way, with three hits apiece. Donohoe finished the two-game series with seven RBI, and Morgan got both wins on the mound.
Smith, the head coach, praised Morgan, who finished the season with eight consecutive complete games on the mound. “His poise is not like your typical freshman,” he said.
Smith also pointed to a state championship middle school program that’s feeding the junior varsity and then the varsity. “We’ve got three teams but one big program,” he said.
“When they come in sixth grade, I’ve got seven years with these guys.”
This story was originally published May 11, 2018 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Young talent delivers state championship to Calvary Christian."