Pioneers take Final Flight Championship
2017 FINAL FLIGHT OUTFITTTERS CHAMPS – Members of the 2017 the Final Flight Outfitters Champs are: (front row), Sam McKinney, Austin Atkins, Dalton Flesher, Alex Jones, Adam Atkins, Caden Wylie, Brennan Lownsdale, Cameron McMackin, Adam Smithson, Alex Qualls, Noah Stafford, (back row) Coach Eric Patton, Coach Cullion Williams, Stephen Overstreet, Austin Little, Payton Lamberson, Travis Watkins, Josh London, Mac Hicks, Tyner Hughes, Hunter Cooper, Connor Reeves, Donte Holder, Caleb Branson. Will Cantrell, Coach Todd Chandler, head Coach Neal Papich,
by Lori Cathey
The Gibson County Pioneers baseball team won the Final Flight Outfitters Baseball Classic Championship with a 6 to 2 victory over Tipton-Rosemark Saturday night in Union City. In the Semi-Final game the Pioneers defeated Crawfordsville 3 to 2 in eight innings when Stephen Overstreet hit a game winning home run.
In the opening game of the pool play in the Final Flight tournament Pioneer Pitchers Austin Atkins and Adam Atkins had Ballard Memorial High School batters seeing double for a 5 to 2 Gibson County win. In the second pool game Thursday morning GC Sam McKinney threw a seven inning shutout against McKenzie for a 2 – 0 Pioneer win. In the final game of the pool play the Pioneers tied 11 to 11 with Frontier High School. Gibson County won Pool C with two wins and a tie.
GC vs Ballard Memorial High School
In the bottom of the first inning Pioneer Stephen Overstreet singled and advanced to second base on a throwing error. Mac Hicks walked and Noah Stafford hit into a fielder’s choice. Overstreet scored on an error to make it 1 – 0 Gibson County. Gibson County’s Sam McKinney hit a double to left –center field with two outs. McKinney scored off of a single to right field by Will Cantrell to give Gibson County a 2 to 0 lead. Pioneer catcher Tyner Hughes led off the sixth inning with a double. Back-to-back walks to Caleb Branson and McKinney loaded the bases with no outs. Hughes scored on a wild pitch and Cantrell walked to load the bases again. Branson scored off a walk by Overstreet. Hicks hit a sacrifice fly to score McKinney to extend Gibson County’s lead to 5 to 0. In the top of the seventh Ballard scored two runs off three singles for a 5 to 2 victory.
Gibson County pitchers Austin Atkins and Adam Atkins combined for the win. Austin Atkins pitched four innings, allowed no hits, no walks and struck out six batters. Adam Atkins pitched three innings, gave up three hits, two walks, and struck out four. Hitting for Gibson County were Stephen Overstreet, 2 for 3; Tyner Hughes, 1-3 with a double, Sam McKinney, 1-2 with a double; Mac Hicks 1-2, and Will Cantrell 1-2.
GC vs McKenzie
Gibson County pitcher Sam McKinney struck out two of three McKenzie batters he faced in the first inning to set the pace of the game. Stephen Overstreet started the bottom of the inning off with a single to right field. Will Cantrell laid down a great sacrifice bunt to move Overstreet to second base but he was unable to score. Pioneers scored a run in the bottom of the second inning when Tyner Hughes walked and scored on a throwing error. In the third inning Overstreet singled to left field and Cantrell reached on a fielder’s choice. Mac Hicks singled and Cantrell scored on an error by the catcher. Noah Stafford hit into a double play to end the inning. Gibson County took a 2 to 0 lead over McKenzie. Neither team scored for the reminder of the game with Gibson County defeating McKenzie 2 to 0. Pioneer Sam McKinney earned the win pitching a complete shutout game. He gave up only one hit, no runs, no walks and he struck out eight batters. Stephen Overstreet went 2 for 3; Mac Hicks, 1 for 2; Caleb Branson and Sam McKinney both were 1 for 3.
GC vs Frontier HS
The Pioneers jumped out to 8 to 1 lead in the top of the fourth inning against Frontier. In the bottom of the inning, Frontier scored nine runs to take a 10 to 8 lead. Neither team scored in the fifth. The Pioneers scored three runs in the top of the sixth. Adam Atkins and Austin Atkins hit back-to-back singles. Adam Atkins scored off a sacrifice fly by Will Cantrell. Stephen Overstreet was hit by a pitch. Sam McKinney hit two RBI double to left field to score Austin Atkins and Overstreet to give Gibson County a 11 to 10 lead. Frontier scored a run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 11 all. The game was called for time limited in pool play. Pioneer’s starting pitcher Travis Watkins gave up three hits, three walks and struck out two batters in three innings. Dalton Flesher and Payton Lamberson pitched in relief. Hitting for Gibson County were Sam McKinney 2-5, a double and 2 RBIs; Stephen Overstreet, 2-3 with a RBI; Adam Atkins 2-4, and Josh London 1-3 with 2 RBIs. Mac Hicks, Tyner Hughes, Austin Atkins and Noah Stafford each had a hit.
GC vs Crawfordsville
Crawfordsville got on the scoreboard first in the third inning scoring two runs off of a single. Neither team scored in the fourth or fifth inning. Pioneer Sam McKinney was hit by a pitch with one out in the top of the sixth inning. Senior Mac Hicks singled to right field and Noah Stafford hit into a fielder’s choice. McKinney and Stafford both scored on a double hit to right field by Tyner Hughes to tie the game at 2 all. Gibson County’s Stephen Overstreet led the top of the eighth inning off with the game winning home run over the left fence to give the Pioneers a 3 to 2 lead. The Pioneers defense held Crawfordsville scoreless in the bottom of the eighth for a 3-2 Gibson County win to advance to the championship game. Gibson County’s starting pitcher Brennan Lowsdale pitched 2 1/3 innings gave up only one hit and walked two. Adam Atkins was the Pioneer’s winning pitcher. He gave up two hits, walked two and struck out five batters. Pioneer Tyner Hughes was 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBIs; Stephen Overstreet, 1-4 with a home run; Josh London, Mac Hicks, Noah Stafford and Adam Atkins each had a hit.
Championship game
GC vs Tipton-Rosemark
Tipton-Rosemark started the champion game off by scoring two runs off two singles in the first inning. In the bottom of the inning the Pioneers answer right back. Stephen Overstreet reached base on an error, Sam McKinney hit into a fielder’s choice and Mac Hicks hit a single. McKinney scored on a single by Tyner Hughes and Hicks scored on a sacrifice bunt by Josh London to tie the game at 2 all. The Pioneers added three more runs in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Hicks singled to center field, and Hughes reached on a throwing error. Hicks and Hughes both scored on a single to center field by London. London went to third on the throw to home plate and scored on a single by Adam Atkins to give Gibson County a 5 to 2 lead. The Pioneers scored their final run in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 6 to 2 lead. The Pioneers held Tipton-Rosemark scoreless for the remaining two innings for a 6 to 2 Gibson County championship win. Pioneer Alex Qualls was the winning pitcher. He pitched a complete game giving up four hits, walking two and striking out two. Mac Hicks was 3 for 4 scoring two runs; Josh London, 1-3 with 3 RBIs; Adam Atkins 1-3 with a RBI; Tyner Hughes 1-4 with a RBI and Sam McKinney went 1 for 4.
