FAYETTEVILLE -- Gunner Gilbert stepped off the back of the pitcher's mound and adjusted his cap, then climbed back and toed the rubber.
The Shiloh Christian senior left-handed pitcher was nursing a 1-0 lead with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, and Ashdown had two runners on.
Gilbert composed himself and fired his 75th pitch, and got the swing he needed as Austin Bearden grounded out to first, and the Saints celebrated the Class 4A state championship in Baum Stadium on Friday.
"I've been dreaming of pitching in a state championship game my whole life," Gilbert said. "This is unreal."
Gilbert's six-hit shutout capped a postseason run during which Shiloh Christian (15-10) shut out five of its six opponents in regional and state tournament play, including all three state tournament foes.
Shiloh Christian Coach Moe Henry acknowledged his team's dominant pitching performance.
"It's really hard to lose games when you don't give up any runs," Henry said.
The Saints, who carried a sub-.500 record into the postseason, scored the game's only run in the sixth off Ashdown left-hander Austin Cross.
Center fielder Tyler Roth led off with a bunt just past Cross to the middle of the infield. Roth stole second and moved to third on Connor Clark's sacrifice bunt. Roth scored on a wild pitch.
"We talked to Tyler before the inning and told him we wanted him to put something on the ground and use his speed," Henry said. "I told him to try and push it to the shortstop and he did a great job of executing it."
Gilbert got two outs in the top of the seventh inning before Bryson Haskins and Alex Day hit back-to-back two-strike pitches through the hole between third base and shortstop to get runners on.
Assistant coach Randy Salbury made a quick visit to the mound, and Gilbert got Bearden on a grounder to first to end the game.
Henry said he never had any doubt that Gilbert would nail down the game.
"He's been in jams like that and gotten out of it all year," Henry said. "We knew Gunner would find a way to get us out of it."
Ashdown (22-7) had six hits, but left nine runners on base against Gilbert.
Cross limited Shiloh Christian to three hits.
"Austin, he just competes. He did a great job out there," Ashdown coach Chuck Cross said. "We didn't push any runs across and you couldn't ask any more from him.
"If you told me at the beginning of the day that they'd score one run, 98 percent of the time we win the game. But their guy did a great job today."
The state title was Shiloh Christian's fourth, and its first since winning three consecutive championships from 2010-2012.
Friday's victory was especially sweet for Henry, who was an assistant on those teams.
"This has been a great program, and I'm just glad I didn't come in and jack it up," Henry said. "It does feel good."
Sports on 05/21/2016