Having been denied the program's sixth state baseball championship a year ago, the Lovett Lions accomplished their goal Saturday, knocking off Dublin 9-2 in a deciding third game to claim the Class AA state title.
It marked the sixth title since 1990 for Lovett and the second since 2006.
"I couldn't have dreamed it any better," said Lovett's Clayton McKenney, one of five seniors, who were part of the 2008 state runner-up team. "I never felt as bad as I did last year, and I have never felt this good this year in my entire life."
The Lions, who lost three straight and five of six in March, won 25 of their final 28 games and lost just once in the postseason en route to the championship.
On Saturday, Lovett overcame a 1-0 deficit in the first inning by tallying seven unanswered runs to blow the game open at Lovett Field.
Sparking the offense were the top three hitters in the lineup, Zach Boden, Max Williams and Drew Stockton. The trio combined for five runs, eight hits and six RBI. Stockton drove in three runs and helped break the game open with a two-out, two run double in a three-run fourth inning that gave Lovett a commanding 6-1 lead.
It was all the support needed by sophomore pitcher Hunter Budd, who had not started a game for Lovett since late April.
Budd gave up a leadoff double to Michael Coffey to open the game and surrendered a two-out RBI double to Brandon Brown to give the Fighting Irish (27-11) an early lead in the finale of the best-of-three series.
The Lions, who were swept by rival Wesleyan in last year's championship, wasted little time getting to Dublin starter Casey Peacock.
In the bottom of the first, Boden doubled to left field and scored on a single by Williams, who batted a team-high .583 for the series and led the team with five runs scored. Williams moved to third base on an error in center field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Reagan for a 2-1 lead.
Budd settled down after the first inning. He scattered seven hits over six innings and struck out six before giving way to McKenney, who pitched eight innings during Friday's 6-3 loss in Game 2. McKenney walked one and struck out two to close the game and spark a celebration.
"It was just adrenaline," said McKenney, a University of Georgia signee. "I didn't even feel it."
Dublin, playing in its fourth elimination game of the postseason, had two runners on base and one out, in the fifth inning, but Budd managed to pitch out of the jam.
The sophomore did the same in the sixth inning, overcoming an error and allowing one run to score. With Brown on second and Holby Holmes at first, Budd struck out the final two batters he faced to secure the championship.
"I told the team at the beginning of the season you have the talent on this team to win a state championship," Lovett head coach Lance Oubs said. "You have the talent to do better than the '06 team. You've got to believe that and come out and work hard, and if you do that we will be playing for it at the end."
Much like the '06 club, which was pushed to a third game by Buford in the semifinals, this year's club had to regroup from a disappointing extra-inning loss on Friday that forced a Game 3.
"I think I am most proud of the way the team handled the game today [Saturday]," Oubs said. "After such a heartbreaking loss [Friday] in the bottom of the ninth, they put it behind them. They came out focused, and they knew what they had to do, and they did it."
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