Coalfield Wins District 3A Baseball Championship

May 12, 2022 admin featured

*The Coalfield Yellow Jackets pose with their District 3A Championship Trophy. [Photo by Cathy Bird]*

By Terry Futrell

The Coalfield Yellow Jackets, ranked No. 8 in the state by MaxPreps, cruised their way to a District 3A championship match with Oneida with overwhelming victories over Wartburg (24-0) and Oliver Springs (12-2). But the Indians proved to be a much more formidable foe – the Jackets had to come from an 8-9 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning to claim an 11-9 victory over Oneida for the championship.

Oneida set the tone for the game in the top of the first when leadoff batter McLorne Love hit a home run. The Indians scored again to take a 2-0 lead. Coalfield’s leadoff batter Cole Hines quickly responded with a double to right field. Later in the bottom of the first, Zach Armstrong stepped up to bat with the bases loaded and planted the ball over the centerfield fence to give Coalfield a 5-2 lead.

Both teams scored one run in the second and third innings, followed by a scoreless fourth inning. Coalfield led 7-4 going into the fifth inning when Oneida’s offense exploded for four runs to lead 8-7. Coalfield responded with only one run in the bottom of the fifth when Cole Hines doubled to left field and then scored to tie the game at 8-8.

After a scoreless sixth inning, Oneidas Caden Rector led off with a double and later scored to give the Indians a 9-8 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Cole Hines was again the leadoff batter for Coalfield and tripled on a fly ball to right field. Hines later scored on a sacrifice fly by Levi Brasel to tie the score 9-9 with two outs. Braden Burgess drew a walk to put the winning run on first. Levi Heidel then stepped up to the plate and hit the ball over the right field fence to give Coalfield an 11-9 victory and the District 3A championship.

In three tournament games Coalfield outscored their opponents 47-13. The batting performance by Zach Armstrong, Cole Hines, and Levi Heidel are especially noteworthy. Armstrong averaged .667, hitting six of nine and driving in 13 runs. Hines averaged .750, hitting six of eight and scoring 9 of Coalfield’s 47 runs. Heidel averaged .750, hitting six of eight while scoring nine runs and driving in 10 runs. Armstrong and Heidel combined to drive in 23 of Coalfield’s 47 runs.

Coalfield hosts Oakdale in the regional semifinals on Monday. Oneida travels to Greenback to take on the Cherokees.