WILLIAMSBURG — Whitley County’s quest to capture its second state championship in four years begins Friday at 1:30 p.m. against 3rd Region champion Apollo, who enters with a 21-12 mark.
Jeremy Shope’s Colonels enter the tournament ranked No. 2 overall while possessing a state-best .68469 RPI Rating.
Whitley County has rolled to a program-best 38 wins, and look to capture No. 39 Friday.
“There are only 16 teams left throughout the state of Kentucky,” Shope said. “We are one of them. What an accomplishment in itself. We are 2A State Champions, regular season district champions, district tournament champions, region tournament champions. We are 38-3. It’s unbelievable what a year that these guys have had. With that being said, we have one more goal that we want to accomplish.
“We will always have the mindset that we can go win a state championship,” he added. “that doesn’t happen, then we’re going to go down competing our guts out. If it does, these boys will have had a perfect season and they might just make a movie about them.”
The Colonels have turned in a successful season while going up against a slate that ranks as one of the toughest in the state.
“Our schedule has shown our guys that we can compete at a high level,” Shope said. “We have beat some really good teams in our state. We know that we have to be hungry, hot, and healthy. Right now going into this state tournament we feel good about all three.”
Whitley County possesses a team batting average of .377, which includes five full-time players batting at least .400, and two-full time players hitting at least .300.
Freshman Kip Allen leads the way with a .457 batting average. He’s accumulated 48 hits, 33 RBI, 39 runs scored, two homers, and 22 stolen bases. Junior Luke Hillard is batting .451 with 51 hits, 44 RBI, 33 runs scored, and a team-best three home runs. Senior EJ Allen is batting .436 with 51 hits, 41 RBI, a team-best 51 runs scored, one homers run and a team-best 34 stolen bases. Freshman Cooper Parman has a .406 batting average, a team-best 52 hits, team-best 45 RBI, 29 runs scored, and two home runs. Dee Parker is batting .402 with 39 hits, 24 RBI, 34 runs scored, and 25 steals. Ty Petrey possesses a .376 batting average, 41 hits, 27 RBI, 31 runs scored, and 15 steals. Hunter Bowling is batting .333 with 38 hits, 30 runs scored, 50 runs scored and 18 stolen bases.
Despite the team’s high batting average, it’s the Colonels’ pitching staff which has been even more dominant.
Whitley County’s team ERA is an impressive 1.04.
The Colonels are led by Kip Allen, who is 8-0 with 49 strikeouts and a 0.36 ERA. Eli Powers is 2-0 with a 0.52 ERA and 35 strikeouts while EJ Allen is 10-1 with a save, 67 strikeouts and a 0.82 ERA. Trey Walton is 1-0 with 21 strikeouts and a 0.92 ERA. Parman is 7-1 with 53 strikeouts and a 1.58 ERA while Hillard is 9-0 with 59 strikeouts and a 2.23 ERA. Christian Wilson is 1-1 with eight strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA.
The Eagles (22-11) will counter with a roster that is hitting .303 on the season while turning in a 2.15 ERA.
Apollo’s is led by an experienced group of players (two seniors, and six juniors).
Seven Eagles are batting .300 or better with senior Ryleigh Logan batting .382 with 42 hits, 27 RBI, two homers runs, and 25 runs scored. Junior Ty Lillpop has a .348 batting average, 39 hits, 34 RBI, two home runs and 23 runs scored while junior John Milburn possesses a .341 average, 29 hits, 20 RBI, and 17 runs scored. Senior Geordyn Stevens is batting .314 with 27 hits, seven RBI and 22 runs scored. Junior Gunnar Hendricks has a .314 average, a team-best six home runs, 32 hits, 33 RBI, and six runs scored. Junior Jagger Pate is batting .302 with a team-best 20 stolen bases. He also has 32 hits, 11 RBI, and 26 runs scored.
Seven different pitchers have notched wins for Apollo.
Sophomore Isaac James is 3-1 with a team-best 1.39 ERA, and 42Ks. Lillpop has a 5-2 record, one save, 1.56 ERA, and 56 Ks. Logan is 1-4 with one save but has an impressive 1.91 ERA with 18 Ks while Pate is 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA and 22 Ks. Milburn has put together a 4-2 mark with a 2.21 ERA and 50 Ks while senior Gage Logsdon is 3-1 with a save, 2.26 ERA, and 13 Ks. Junior Jackson Carder is 2-2 with a save, 4.14 ERA, and 29 Ks.
“Apollo is going to be a tough task on Friday,” Shope said. “They have some really good arms. They seem to play some really good defense. They have a strong tradition of winning region titles. We have to go in and be us. Us, is throwing strikes, playing defense, and being aggressive offensively. This is all gravy from here. Enjoy the moment and have no regrets.”
