Whitley County beats Shelby County in pitchers' duel to win KHSAA baseball title 2023
LEXINGTON, Ky. — They sang the school fight song. The MVP cried. The head coach got the traditional ice-water bath.
In a sport dominated by Lexington and Louisville in recent years, the Whitley County High School baseball team showed Saturday there’s hope for every school in the commonwealth.
“We showed them it can be done,” Whitley County coach Jeremy Shope said. “It’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears. It’s a lot of offseason working. But it can be done.”
Behind Grant Zehr’s three-hitter, the Colonels beat Shelby County 2-1 in the championship game of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop State Tournament.
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A crowd of 3,501 at the University of Kentucky’s Kentucky Proud Park saw No. 8-ranked Whitley County (39-4) capture the first state title in program history. It’s the school’s first state championship in any team sport since the girls basketball team beat Atherton 38-37 to capture the 1985 Sweet 16 title.
Schools from Louisville and Lexington had won the previous six state baseball titles and eight of the previous nine. Located in Williamsburg, Whitley County became the first team from Eastern Kentucky to win the state title since Boyd County in 2001 and the first “mountain school” to capture the crown since Paintsville in 1990.
“I really wanted it, but will it happen? I don’t know,” Zehr said. “It happened. Just ecstatic, man.”
Zehr (10-2) earned state tournament MVP honors after picking up two victories and two saves in four games. In the final, he allowed three hits and three walks and struck out three.
Zehr, with a fastball that maxed out at 82 mph, said he relied on his change-up.
“He’s just an absolute bulldog,” said Shope, who led Mercer County to state runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2013. “He just grinds it out. … When we run Grant Zehr on the mound, you’re not going to get blown away by the (radar) gun. But you’re going to see a guy that gets out there and competes, mixes three pitches, works down in the zone. He has a sound defense behind him, and he knows it.”
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No. 17 Shelby County finished 32-10 and dropped to 1-4 all-time in state finals, winning its lone championship in 1979.
Rockets coach Steve Kingsolver spent several minutes with his players after the loss.
“I told them they’re winners,” he said. “I told them they’ve done everything I’ve asked and I’m always proud of them.”
Whitley County’s Bryce Anderson led off the game with a triple to right-center and scored on Sam Harp’s ground out to give the Colonels a 1-0 lead. Harp scored on a double steal for a 2-0 edge in the top of the sixth inning.
Foster Whisman’s RBI single pulled Shelby County within 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, but the Rockets might have been able to tie the score had Carter White not been thrown out at third on a double-steal attempt earlier in the frame.
“Maybe we got a little out of character trying to push a little bit, but at the same time I had faith in them getting that done,” Kingsolver said. “It just wasn’t our night. … We started getting some baserunners and started getting some momentum. If we play eight innings, maybe we get it.”
Zehr retired Shelby County 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to end it and spark a wild celebration for the Whitley County supporters.
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The Colonels went 18-1 in their final 19 games, the only loss coming to Corbin, 7-1, in the 50th District final.
“We got thumped in the district championship, and we were like, ‘Let’s go to work,’” Zehr said. “Next day we went to work. We practiced two or three hours a day every day, just going at it with each other. That’s what made us win this game.”
WHITLEY COUNTY 100 001 0 - 2 6 0
SHELBY COUNTY 000 001 0 - 1 3 0
WP – Grant Zehr (10-2). LP – Jack Wills (7-2).
MVP – Grant Zehr (Whitley County).
All-tournament team – Matthew Wright, Mason Croley (Whitley County); Hunter Cook, Kemper Whisman, Jack Wills (Shelby County); Dru Meadows, Brennan Cates (Henderson County); Noah Cook, Will Strode (Apollo); Ethan Reynolds (South Warren); Malachi Feeback (Harrison County); Pierre Kauffmann (Lexington Catholic); Carson Shee (Eastern).
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA baseball 2023 championship: Whitley County beats Shelby County
