HIGH SCHOOLS
STATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS: CLASS AAAAA: BROOKWOOD 3-6, WALTON 2-3: Broncos justify national rankMission complete.
Brookwood validated its position as a top-five team nationally, sweeping Walton to win the Class AAAAA championship, the school's first state title since 1986.
Alex Beebe allowed one earned run in six strong innings, and the Broncos got all the runs they'd need in a six-run second inning to win 6-3 in the nightcap.
Beebe's performance followed teammate Chase Hawkins' complete-game victory in the opener, which the Broncos won 3-2 on Ross Heffley's walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the seventh.
"It's a tremendous group," Brookwood coach Rick Howard said. "There's so much we've been through. This is what it's all about."
"All year we wanted this," Hawkins said. "It's the best feeling in the world."
Heffley got a first-pitch fastball and drove it over the right-center field wall off Mark Pope to end Game 1.
"I just went up there looking for something to drive," Heffley said. "A couple games before the playoffs, I was swinging it really well. I've just happened to stay hot."
Pope and Hawkins matched zeroes in Game 1 until Brookwood right fielder Buddy Jones ripped a two-run homer in the sixth to give the Broncos a 2-0 lead. Walton answered in the top of the seventh, tying the game on Spencer Kieboom's two-run single.
Hawkins went the distance for the victory, his 14th, which tied the school record for wins in a season. The left-hander allowed seven hits and stranded five runners in scoring position during his 94-pitch game.
Pope, headed to Georgia Tech, allowed three earned runs but stranded four in scoring position, including leaving the bases loaded in the fifth before Jones' homer.
Brookwood (34-3) unloaded on Raiders Game 2 starter T.J. Kerins, scoring six runs in the second inning of the nightcap. After Jones was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run, Jordan Erisman ripped a three-run triple. Heffley followed with a run-scoring single, and Ryan Lewis capped the scoring with a two-out RBI triple.
Walton, last season's Class AAAAA state champions, finished 27-11.
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