Cinder-Kell-a: Low-seeded Longhorns complete ‘surreal’ state title run

ROME — Kell baseball coach Todd Harris knew his team’s improbable path from a bottom-eight seed to state champion was possible halfway through the season.

Harris challenged his team — which was fighting to stay above .500 — to embrace the struggle. The Longhorns responded by holding several player-led practices, an encouraging sight for Harris.

“That told me right there that we had the pulse of the team, and they had the pulse of this team, and it was going to be driven by them,” Harris said. “We’ve got some really, really good kids that love baseball, and I just knew that if we could just get in the playoffs, it really didn’t matter to me who we played once we got into the playoffs because I felt like our talent would eventually kind of rise to the top.”

Kell finished fourth in its region with a 5-7 record in region play and ended the regular season on a four-game losing streak.

But the Longhorns caught fire when it mattered most, sparking a state playoff run that ended with a doubleheader sweep of powerhouse North Oconee on Saturday night. Kell beat the Titans 3-2 in Game 1 and clinched the program’s first state title with an 8-5 Game 2 victory at AdventHealth Stadium.

“A surreal experience, being the four seed and then getting in that dogpile,” Kell two-way player Evan Brand said. “It was surreal.”

Kell took control of the series with a five-run fourth inning in Game 2. The Longhorns trailed 3-2 when they loaded the bases for junior Brock Burrus, who was 0-for-6 in the series entering the at-bat.

Much like Kell at the start of the playoffs, Burrus found his stride at the perfect time.

“I knew from the previous at-bat that it was three straight fastballs, and I was late on all of them, so I’m, like, ‘He’s probably not going to switch it up,’” Burrus said.

Burrus watched Strike 1 and missed Strike 2. The center fielder fouled off two pitches before lining a fastball into center field. Alex Hahn and Brayden Hatcher scored for a 4-3 lead, and the Longhorn offense jolted to life.

“I tried to get the boys and the fans a little fired up going down (to first base),” Burrus said.

Kell left fielder Preston Bottoms followed with an RBI single of his own, and Burrus scored on the next at-bat on an errant throw from North Oconee catcher Landyn Dykes.

Sam Castleberry’s second RBI single of the night plated Bottoms for the final run of the inning.

Brand, a Georgia Tech commitment, delivered a 100-pitch complete game. The junior allowed five runs on nine hits and a walk but didn’t give up any hits or runs in the final two innings.

“I think after the sixth inning, he kind of walked by me and was like, ‘I’m going in there,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. Ain’t nobody coming into this game. This is your game,’” Harris said. “Just because I have that much trust in him, if the game’s going to be on the line, I’m going to be able to lay my head down at night knowing that Evan Brand was out on that mound.”

Class 4A Game 2 box score

Kell also got a complete game from its Game 1 starter, sophomore Dominic Consolino. The left-hander gave up just four hits and no walks for two earned runs, fanning two Titans.

Consolino gave up one extra-base hit, a triple in the sixth inning. He allowed a sacrifice fly on the next at-bat before ending the inning with a line out, protecting the 3-2 lead.

Consolino went right back to dominating in the final inning, retiring three straight batters to slam the door.

Kell built an early 2-0 lead in Game 1 thanks to a pair of doubles in the first and second innings. Brand led the game off with a double to left field and scored on a groundout. Ashton Murphy doubled to right field and scored on the next at-bat thanks to a North Oconee error.

The Longhorns scored their third and final run on another Titan error in the bottom of the sixth. Murphy hit a potential inning-ending ground ball to Titan shortstop Connor O’Mara, who missed the throw to second base.

The ball rolled lazily into shallow right field, and Kell’s Kayden Reed scored from third base.