OWENSBORO — Jeremy Shope’s Whitley County Colonels out on a clinic during run to the Kentucky 2A State Championship.
The No. 2 ranked Colonels (17-2) captured the title Saturday night, defeating Larue County, 4-0, while handing Glasgow a 14-1 loss in semifinal action Saturday morning.
Whitley County outscored its opponents, 28-2, during its three-game stay in the tournament, and will be brining home another state title after blanking Larue County.
Cooper Parman was named Tournament MVP after going 3-for-4 in the title game.
“So proud of our kids and our program,” Whitley County coach Jeremy Shope said. “We love making our school, community, and alumni proud. In most states, baseball has classification. I believe that there are only three states that don’t have classification, Kentucky being one of them. This is a really big deal. We’ve come up short two other times and for these boys to get this one done is just phenomenal. We had to use a lot of guys to get this done. Playing three games in two days is exhausting. Again, so proud of our team and coaches. Go Colonels.”
Saturday’s Games
Championship
Whitley County 4, Larue County 0
The game was scoreless until the top of the sixth when the Colonels pushed across two runs to take a 2-0 lead. They added two more runs in the seventh inning to pick up the 4-0 win.
Cooper Parman led the way with three hits while Henry Bowling, Trey Walton, and Luke Hillard both had two hits and an RBI apiece. Ty Petrey also had two hits while Dee Parker, Caden Mountjoy and Kip Allen each had one hit apiece.
Ethan Allen got the win, tossing a complete game shutout while allowing five hits and striking out six.
Semifinals
Whitley County 14, Glasgow 1
The Colonels used a nine-run third inning to put the game away, defeating Glasgow, 14-1.
Luke Hillard connected with a home run and finished with two RBI while Ethan Allen had a hit and two RBI. Ty Petrey connected with a hit and drove in a run.
Hillard notched the win, tossing four innings of no-hit and scoreless ball while striking out six batters.
“Luke Hillard was phenomenal on the mound tonight,” Whitley County coach Jeremy Shope said. “Completely knocked the bat out of their hands. Threw no-hit baseball through four innings. We kept offensive pressure on them throughout. Proud of how our guys competed in very tough conditions. High winds and cold rain.
“We get the opportunity to compete for another 2A State Championship,” he added. “We will play a really good Larue County team with a UK commit on the mound. Going to be a good matchup with EJ on the mound for us. Blessed to get to face a really good baseball team. We look forward to this opportunity. Go Colonels.”
