STARKVILLE – For the first time in school history, Starkville Academy ended its baseball season in a giant dog pile on the diamond and with a brand new and shiny trophy.
After tying up the MAIS 4A Division III state championship series in a 11-2 win on Wednesday on the road, the Volunteers sealed the deal Friday night at home with a 5-3 triumph over Brookhaven Academy. Lawson Mullins scored two runs on one hit, and Joseph Portera had two hits and one RBI to lead the team’s attack at the plate.
Micah Buckner kept the Cougars at bay from the mound with six strikeouts in a complete game to help the squad earn the right to hoist the trophy for the first-time ever. In a show of determination, the win for the Volunteers (28-11) marked the third time this season they trailed after the first game in a series and came back to win it.
“We’ve dropped the first game before and we’ve never panicked,” first-year head coach Justin Flake said. “(The) kids have been a lot as a group, especially the senior class, and that’s just in their DNA to be resilient and bounce back. That’s a championship characteristic, the ability to be gritty, resilient and tough, and that showed in this series right here.”
Looking to seize the game early, SA got right down to business in the first inning and plated a run for an early lead, but Brookhaven answered in the second inning with two runs of its own with a one-run double and a score during a ground out.
In the bottom of the second, Buckner was hit by a pitch at the plate to get on base and three more Volunteers were walked for the tying run, and Portera put the squad ahead in the third inning with a one-run single. Looking for more breathing room, SA stacked on two more runs in the sixth inning during ground outs to pull away – but they weren’t out of the woods quite yet.
Almost fitting for the Vols, the top of the seventh inning featured plenty of drama, as that slight twang of adversity crept back into the game. With just one out left in the game and clinging to a three-run lead, Buckner issued a walk, a single and a Cougar reached first base on a fielding error to suddenly load the bags. Brookhaven’s Case Simmons singled to score a runner and the intensity within the park grew as its deficit shrunk. With already more than 100 pitches thrown, the outcome hung on Buckner’s shoulders. The junior met the moment.
Brookhaven’s Carter Palmer put a barrel on Buckner’s next pitch but grounded right into the waiting glove of shortstop Brantley Berkery, who fired the ball to first base to end it.
“It’s awesome, but give all glory to God. I couldn’t have done it without him,” said Buckner, who hit a grand slam in Game 2 to help his team force Friday’s game. “I couldn’t have done it without him. He’s led me through this entire year. All thanks to the coaches too; it’s been an incredible year – best coaches of my entire life.”
Immediately after, the team covered the pitchers mound in orange and blue with a gigantic celebratory dog pile. Fans, students and just about everyone there in support soon found their way onto the field to join in on the party, causing the atmosphere inside the park to hum from all the excitement.
“It’s always special,” Flake said of winning a championship. “You can tell by the reaction by the fans, the administrators that it’s a big deal to finally get there because this has been a good baseball club for a long time. (They are) consistently in the playoffs, consistently putting guys to the next level and to get the first blue trophy it’s real special to be a part of that group.”
If there’s anyone who Flake is most excited to win the championship for, it’s the Vols’ senior class. For four years they’ve had to learn under a new head coach each year and ultimately fall just short of winning it all each time. Now they get to end their high school careers with a ring to remember the journey.
“I told them in our first meeting, ‘What you’ve been through is going to be a weapon for us in the season because you’ve rode that rollercoaster up and down,” Flake said. “Most high school kids don’t experience this – four high school coaches in four years.’ They just bought in and went to work and it’s a product of all of that.”
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