Holmes County Surrenders The Crown, Falls In State Semi

The Holmes County Blue Devils did not repeat as state champions this year.

An 8-0 defeat to the Trenton Tigers ended the Blue Devils playoff run, but that loss came a lot later than most ever expected. Behind a monster first inning, Trenton picked up the victory on Wednesday, in the opening day of the FHSAA state Final Four at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. Despite a subpar 16-16 final record, the Blue Devils won the games that mattered the most at the end of the season to return to the state tournament for the fifth time in the past six seasons.

“We learn from year-to-year that you can graduate even just one guy and it is a different team,” Holmes County Manager Jeromy Powell said. “Everybody wants to win that last game, but for these guys to do what they did, they already won today because they accomplished some stuff that we didn’t think we could accomplish. So I told them to take these games and have fun with them.”

Unfortunately, the game was not much fun for the Blue Devils. The Tigers (23-5) burst out with six runs in the bottom of the first to jump way ahead, and they never looked back from there. After the first two batters reached base, Pierson Weatherilt deposited a base hit into shallow left field for a two-RBI single.

“I think in the very first inning of the game that I let every one of them down,” Coach Powell said. “I’m not sure who brought the infield defense in, but I didn’t. But I never told them to back up. I think if we play that ball a little differently in the first inning, it’s a totally different baseball game. You know how baseball operates. So I’m going to wear that one, because I didn’t step up as a coach and tell my infield to get back. They hit that ball over our third baseman’s head, and from that point on that first inning was lost on our end.”

Easton Powell lays out trying to corral a screamer deep to left field.

Trenton immediately piled on. Logan Marlo sprayed a double down the left field line, and Gabe Cobb followed with a grounder to center that allowed two more runs to score. Luke Hartenstein next had a single to center that brought Gabe Cobb in, and Noah Owens capped the big frame with a blast deep to left field that fell just past the diving fielder’s grasp to bring Hartenstein home.

The Tigers added on a few more insurance runs. Hartenstein had an RBI double that plated Logan Marlo in the bottom of the third, and Holden Beauchamp reached on an error that allowed Gabe Cobb to close out the scoring in the fifth.

“Hats off to Trenton for coming in there and putting the ball in play like they did,” Coach Powell said. “They put the ball in play and we didn’t.”

Trenton starter Mason VanCannon was a force on the mound, going the distance for a complete-game shutout. The junior allowed only two hits on the day, while also hitting two batters. VanCannon didn’t issue any walks, while piling up 10 strikeouts.

“I don’t think I made a good job of making adjustments at the plate,” Coach Powell said. “The kid didn’t throw much other than a fastball, and we just didn’t do a good job. We were trying to pull everything.”

The Blue Devils struggled to string much offense together. With two outs in the top of the fifth, Landen Gammons and D.J. Baggett were both hit by pitches to give them their best scoring opportunity. But a liner to the shortstop ended the threat, and VanCannon retired the last six batters in order over the final two innings to close out the win.

“They played hard throughout the game,” Coach Powell said. “This team’s young. We didn’t have any seniors playing and we only have one senior on the team, and he didn’t play a whole lot this year. Just for the young guys to get the experience of coming down here, I knew it was a big thing. I didn’t think this was the year that we were going to win it, but it was more about the opportunity to get down here. It really says a lot for the guys that we have in our program. If you go back and look at our schedule, I knew they weren’t going to throw anybody at us that we hadn’t seen all year. When you have a bunch of young guys on the field, a lot of them are going to play like a young guy will play, and that is what you get in games like this.”

Holmes County graduated seven starters from last year’s state title team, leaving a roster full of new starters that were tasked with defending that crown. After reaching the district playoffs with a losing record, the team turned things around to make another deep playoff run. The Blue Devils won the district title and swept the opening round of the regional semifinals, the overcame a game one loss in the regional finals by taking the next two for their second straight regional title.

Bryant Mathis delivers a pitch during the FHSAA Rural state semifinal.

“We had to play one game that finished at 1:45 in the morning, to try and get the games in because of the weather,” Coach Powell recalled. “Anything short of a state title is a failure, and we’ve been saying that for several years and these guys embrace it. That’s who they want to be. They went out there and busted their tails today.”

Reaching the state Final Four is really its own reward, and all the accolades possible to be earned from there are just icing on the cake, even if the Blue Devils feel differently.

“Things like this bring you closer together as a team, just showing up here,” Coach Powell said. “The bus ride and the experience of being down here and getting to practice, and experiencing how hot it can be down here, just all of the stuff that goes into coming down here, that is the main thing that these guys got to do. We’ve got some kids in the program that are still coming up, and our sophomores got a lot of experience today. I think next year with these guys getting a feel of what they got today, they’ll be getting guys more on board. So they’ll be ready by next year.”

Holmes County figures to return a deep veteran team next season, with only one player set to graduate. With eight returning seniors and seven returning juniors, the roster will be full of experienced players hungry to move on from this day by writing a better result in the next playoff run.

“It’s an honor to be these guys’ coach, and it’s an honor to be at this program,” Coach Powell said. “For them, I think it is an honor for them to be baseball players for Holmes County High School.”

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