FAYETTEVILLE -- Sylvan Hills walked its way to its first state championship since 2008.
The Bears earned a 1-0 victory over the Watson Chapel Wildcats on Friday afternoon at Baum Stadium in the Class 5A state championship game thanks to a bases-loaded walk drawn by junior shortstop Gage Taylor.
Its Sylvan Hills' eighth state championship and first in 10 seasons, with the last one before Friday also coming against Watson Chapel when the schools were in Class 6A.
"I'm just proud," Bears Coach Denny Tipton said. "I've had the pleasure of winning, but I wanted these kids to know what it feels like to win. They put so much time in. It's almost become like a 12-month job. These kids are practicing all the time.
"Nobody can ever take it from them. They're the 2018 5A state champs."
Sylvan Hills (25-12) did not have a hit through six innings against Watson Chapel senior left-hander Kaleb Hill.
But the Bears broke through in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Junior catcher Chaz Poppy, who entered Friday's game batting .455, hit a 1-0 pitch from Hill to left-center field between sophomore left fielder Kevin Compton and senior center fielder Ja'Kobi Jackson for a double to lead off the Bears' seventh.
Senior Nick Fakouri, who pitched all seven innings for Sylvan Hills, singled to center field to put runners on first and third with nobody out. Junior Stone Stanley came on to pinch run for Fakouri and went to second base on defensive indifference with senior first baseman Ray Young at the plate. Hill eventually intentionally walked Young to load the bases. Senior third baseman Jason Neeley struck out for the first out of the inning.
Taylor attempted two squeeze bunt attempts but fouled both of them.
He worked the count to 3-2, then walked on Hill's 106th pitch of Friday's game to give the Bears the victory. Taylor was ruled to not have gone around by first base umpire Jeremy Groce, and Poppy came home for the winning run as Sylvan Hills players came out of the third-base dugout to celebrate.
Tipton almost had Taylor squeeze for a third time with the count at 3-2, but he decided against it.
"He's done a good job all year," Tipton said. "I thought he held it back. I was just happy that we won a state championship."
Taylor said he didn't want to be late on Hill's pitch.
"He was throwing it harder than normal," Taylor said. "It's the best feeling of my life. It was unbelievable."
Tipton believed Poppy's leadoff double helped the Bears' momentum.
"There's a lot of pressure," Tipton said. "We had nothing to lose. They had to get the three outs. I felt like when he [Poppy] got the big hit, it put a little more pressure [on Hill]."
Fakouri, a right-hander, allowed 1 hit and struck out 10 in 7 innings while walking 2 batters in 92 pitches. He never allowed a Wildcat to reach scoring position.
"I was going to make sure to stay calm and keep my composure and let my defense work," Fakouri said.
Said Tipton: "Nick competed. This was his 13th game to start in a state tournament, which is a school record. He did exactly what I expected him to do. He gave us a chance to win."
Hill, an Ole Miss signee, struck out 11 batters allowed 2 hits and walked 5 in 6⅓ innings.
"He's our horse, so I'll roll with him," Watson Chapel Coach Chad Cope said. "He felt good. It's just life. It's how it goes."
Jackson had the only hit for Watson Chapel (23-8), a two-out single off Fakouri in the top of the first inning.
Cope lamented his team's struggles at the plate.
"We didn't hit the ball like we've been hitting it," Cope said. "That's baseball. They made one more play than we did.
"Our kids played their guts out. You've got two hits [by Sylvan Hills] and one hit by one team with no errors, that's a well-pitched baseball game. We just came out on the losing end."
Sports on 05/19/2018