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| Shelton wins state championship | 2007-05-17 |
| For Shelton State coach Bobby Sprowl, the seventh time was the charm. After all of those years of coming close, Sprowl and his Shelton State Bucs finally got that elusive state championship. | |
 This time it wasn’t even close. There was no dramatic finish. As a matter of fact, with only three outs to go against the Southern Union Bison, Sprowl sat calmly in the dugout taking notes. And why not? The game was well in hand as the Bucs won the ACCC championship game 13-0.“With a lead like we had, I felt comfortable just waiting until the end,� Sprowl said. “I thought our kids were tight at the beginning of the game, but once we loosened up, we played a lot better.� It did appear as though the Bucs were tight in the early going. Three times in the first three innings, the Bucs were unable to execute a simple bunt to move a runner along. The result each time was a wasted lead-off hit and no runs. But in the fourth inning, all of that changed. Corbett Proctor led off the inning with a walk. Freiley Cox was not only successful in bunting him along, but also got a base hit. After a strike out by Daniel Boyd, Justin Bussey walked to load the bases. Marshall Young knocked in the first run with a ground out to second base. Douglas Frazier followed with an RBI single to center field. Then Clay Jones was hit by a pitch, and that was the end of the day for Southern Union starting pitcher Robbie Loew. Jeremiah Smith entered the game and quickly suffered from poor defense. Clay Booth hit a ground ball that got by the third baseman, and another run scored. When the fourth inning was over, the Bucs had a 4-0 lead. That was plenty of runs for Shelton State pitcher Robert Phares. He shut out the Bison the rest of the way. Phares, who was named tournament most valuable player, only gave up six hits in the game, walked one, and struck out four. “I felt like I was in control the entire game,� Phares said. “We were all real relaxed. Last year we had a chance to win it all, but we just couldn’t get the job done. This year, we’ve been more consistent. I think most of all we got timely hits throughout the tournament.� Although Phares didn’t needed any more run support, his teammates added one more run in the fifth and sixth inning, four in the eighth, and three runs in the ninth. In addition to Phares, Jonathon Smart, Adam Scott, and Daniel Boyd were all named to the All-Tournament team for Shelton. As for what finally winning a state championship meant to Sprowl, he said “This morning I probably got 15 phone calls from other junior college coaches. They were all wishing me well. They said if they couldn’t win it, they wanted me to. Having that respect from my peers probably means more than anything.� Shelton will now represent the State of Alabama at the Junior College World Series. That tournament gets underway May 26 in Grand Junction, Colorado. | |
| © Wallace Community College |
