High School Sports

By TRAVIS YOESTING
Staff Writer

BELTON -- Runner-up has become a sort of dirty word at Bullard Brook Hill. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, the Guard racked up five consolation prizes in the past two years.

Finally, a new word can be added to their vernacular.

Champions.

Brook Hill trounced Hallettsville Sacred Heart 14-1 in six innings Saturday in the TAPPS 3A state championship at UMHB's Red Murff Field, casting aside the numerous red-ribboned, second-place medals for blue ones more of the Guard's liking.

"I've got three red ones hanging up at the house and I don't like that," said Cody Bryant, Brook Hill's lone senior. "I wanted blue."

Junior A.J. Minter led the way for the champion Guard (28-3), hitting two triples to go with four RBIs and a walk. Coming on in relief in the third, the lefty mowed down the Indians (23-7), striking out six while allowing two hits, two walks and no runs.

"Greatest feeling of my life," Minter said.

Kendall Kerns (double, three RBIs) and Michael Greening (double, two RBIs) also added 2-for-3 performances for Brook Hill while JB Moss was 1 for 1 with three steals, three walks and two runs.

After Landon Hatfield hit a solo home run off Moss in the second to cut the lead to 3-1, Moss stole home in the fourth to stymie any momentum.

"Unbelievable man, something I can't put into words," Moss said of the win. "It's been a long ride, it really has. Ever since my freshman year getting beat in the first round to my junior year being a state champion. It's been a journey but I've enjoyed the whole time.

"I wanted for a long time to be able to experience one of these and it was definitely worth the losses to get the win."

The Indians issued 15 free passes -- 10 from walks and five hit batters. Sacred Heart starter Hatfield walked eight batters while striking out six before he left in the fifth.

Brook Hill broke it open with a six-run fifth that lasted nearly an hour. Sacred Heart changed pitchers three times in the marathon inning that saw the Indians commit five errors. The Guard experienced a similar situation when they were run-ruled 12-2 by Waco Reicher in the 2010 baseball title game in which they committed six errors.

"I felt for the guys because I understood what they were going through at that point," Brook Hill coach Terry Pirtle said.

The Guard capitalized on the errors with four timely hits -- including two doubles and a triple.

Brook Hill closed it out with four runs in the sixth, aided by four hit batsmen, including three in a row as Sacred Heart struggled to find a capable arm. Minter's two-run triple off the wall was one of two hits in the frame.

"I'm just proud of the way the kids came out and executed everything today," Pirtle said. "Just an exclamation point for how well the kids have played all year."

Brook Hill will return all but Bryant to next year's squad in hopes of a repeat. But first the Guard are thinking about redemption in football, also coached by Pirtle.

"It's great, a different feeling than I've ever had before," said junior Travis Pirtle. "I think it just broke a wall.

"We've got spring football starting on Monday, so I'm ready to go."

NOTES:

Making the all-tournament team from Brook Hill were Pirtle, Greening, Minter and Moss. ... Most of the Guard, including coaches, sported Mohawks to varying degrees. "I'm glad we won because we'd have looked pretty stupid if we'd have lost," Bryant said. ... Brook Hill brings the title back to East Texas for the first time since All Saints won the same crown in 2009. ... Colby Mikes and Hatfield led the Indians at the plate, each going 2 for 2. Mikes, Hatfield, Daniel Halata and Casey Mueller were named all-tournament for Sacred Heart.

-- -- --

TAPPS 3A State Championship

At UMHB's Red Murff Field

Bullard Brook Hill 14, Hallettsville Sacred Heart 1

Brook Hill 030 164 -- 14 9 1

Sacred Heart 010 000 -- 1 6 5

JB Moss, A.J. Minter (3) and Kendall Kerns. Landon Hatfield, Cade Brewer (5), Colin Brewer (5), Colby Mikes (5), Jared Kriskie (6) and Mikes, Hatfield (5). 2B - BH: Michael Greening, Kerns. 3B - BH: Minter 2. HR - SH: Hatfield (second, none on). Steals: BH: Moss 3, Travis Pirtle, Michael Greening. SH: Daniel Halata 2, Mikes 2.

RECORDS

-- Brook Hill 28-3; Sacred Heart 23-7.

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