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CALHOUN CITY — After the relief pitcher  got the first batter out in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Wilkinson County Christian Academy Rams were just two outs away from a series sweep of Calhoun Academy and going back to Woodville with back-to-back MAIS Class 2A state championships.

Then the unthinkable happened. Three batters walked, two of them with two outs. Then followed a game-tying two-run single by Wyatt Hollis and the game winning single by lead-off hitter Kaden Denton as the Cougars rallied for a 6-5 win over the South State champion Rams last Tuesday afternoon in Game 2 of the state championship series to even it a one game apiece.

“We just didn’t finish,” WCCA head coach Kyle White said Wednesday morning. “Tucker (Freeman) gave us a good outing. Good enough to win. They’re a scrappy bunch. They did what they needed to do to stay in it and eventually win it.”

Freeman, who pitched the seventh inning in the Rams’ 11-5 win at home last Monday afternoon in Game 1 of the best-of-three series, got the start for Game 2. He went six innings and held North State champion Calhoun Academy to two runs, both of them earned, on five hits with nine strikeouts, four walks, and two hit batters. He threw 120 pitches with 70 of them for strikes.

Then it was up to to the relief pitcher to finish the game and the series. Unfortunately, that would not be the case.

After out No. 1, Lane Watts walked and Caiden Farmer doubled to put runners in scoring position. Jake Allen grounded out to Freeman, but Watts scored to make a 5-3 game. Then back-to-back walks loaded the bases. Hollis singled to bring in Farmer and Bronner Bingham to tie the game up at 5-all.

Then Denton, who led Calhoun Academy at the plate by going 3-for-5 with three runs batted in, singled to bring in Hollis with the game-winning run.

“It is what it is. They wanted to win. They were not ready for their season to end,” White said. “A four-and-a-half, almost five-hour ride. They go the field as ready as they could. They got it capable enough to play. They had over three inches of rain up there on Monday. It was still swampy. We had every opportunity to win it. We hit balls right at people. The two hardest-hit balls ended up being caught.”

Starting pitcher Carsen Stegall also did his part to keep the Cougars in the game. As did the defense behind him. That combination kept the Rams from having a big inning that would have likely won them the state title on the road.

Stegall went the distance and gave up five runs, all of them earned, on eight hits with three strikeouts, three walks, and one hit batter. He threw 100 pitches with 62 of them for strikes.

The most runs he allowed in any one inning were two runs in the top of the first inning. He also gave up a solo home run to Freeman in the top of the sixth inning that gave the Rams a 5-2 advantage.

“He threw a lot of strikes. He pitched to contact. It was a relatively clean game. Kudos to them for staying in the game,” White said. “We get a chance to win it at home.”

Cole Partridge led the Rams at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a double. Easton Buteaux was also 2-for-3 with two runs batted in, a sacrifice fly, and one stolen base. Carter Graham went 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI.

Freeman tried to help his cause by going 1-for-2 with one RBI, two stolen bases, and three runs scored. He was also hit by a pitch once and was walked once. Sessions was 1-for-4 with one run scored and one stolen base.

Bingham was 0-for-2 for the Cougars, but was also walked twice and scored two runs. Hollis was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and one stolen base. He was also walked twice.

WCCA’s seven-game winning streak was also snapped and the loss dropped the Rams to 16-11 overall. The winner-take-all Game 3 took place Thursday afternoon at WCCA at 5 p.m.

WCCA 11, Calhoun Academy 5 (Game 1; Monday afternoon)

WOODVILLE — Wilkinson County Christian Academy lead-off hitter Charles Grezaffi went 5-for-5 with three runs batted in and three runs scored as the Rams defeated the Calhoun Academy Cougars 11-5 last Monday afternoon in Game 1 of the 2025 MAIS Class 2A State Championship Series.

One of his five hits was a key two-out, two-run double that brought in Wesley Sanchez and Cole Partridge that capped off a three-run barrage for South State champion WCCA that gave them a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.

“As a lead-off hitter, any time you get five hits, that’s huge. And to play as good defense as he does in centerfield. He’s a plus-defense player in the outfield. And he pitched a little bit for us out of necessity to help us,” WCCA head coach Kyle White said Monday night after the completion of the game.

White added that having Grezaffi pitch the top of the sixth inning also helped make more pitching available for the Rams for Tuesday’s pivotal Game 2 at Calhoun Academy.

Sanchez got the Rams’ home half of the second inning started with an RBI single that gave them a 2-0 lead. And that was also a two-out hit

Another factor in WCCA’s win over North State champion Calhoun Academy was a five-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth inning that gave the home team a 9-0 lead.

One run had already scored before Jacob Sessions doubled to bring in Tucker Freeman and Justin Hendry, who was a courtesy runner for catcher Carter Graham. Then Easton Buteuax singled to score Sessions and Wesley Oliveaux singled in Buteaux.

White decided to use four pitchers for the game. Winning pitcher Beau Deville got the start and allowed no runs on one hit with three strikeouts and five walks over two innings. Sanchez pitched the next three innings. After he pitched back-to-back scoreless innings to keep the shutout in check, the Cougars got to him in the top of the fifth inning to the tune of four runs, to make it a 9-4 game.

After the Rams scored one run in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead 10-4, Sanchez came back out in the top of the sixth. After allowing another baserunner, he was pulled for Grezaffi. Sanchez was charged with run in that frame and ended up giving up five runs, all of them earned, on five hits with one strikeout and three walks.

In his one inning on the mound, Grezaffi gave up two hits, walked one, and struck out none. Then Freeman came on to finish the game and he played the closer’s role as good as expected — no runs, no hits, three strikeouts, and no walks.

“Tucker struck out 8, 9, and 1 in the seventh,” White said. He added that timely defense in the early innings of the game was huge for WCCA and Deville in particular.

“They had the bases loaded twice and we got out of them. Solid defense behind (Deville). And a base-running mistake in the second,” White said.

The Cougars had the bases loaded with one out before Lane Watts struck out and the runner at third base tagged to try to steal third base. Unfortunately for him, Graham caught the ball on the third strike, stood up, and tagged the runner out at home plate for the rare strike-him-out, tag-him-out double play to end the frame and preserve WCCA’s 1-0 lead.

“He must have thought there were two outs,” White said.

The Rams exploded for 15 hits in the series opener. Buteaux went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored while Freeman was 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run scored, and was walked once. Sessions was 1-for-2, was walked twice, and had three RBIs, one stolen base, and one run scored. Altogether, everyone in their line-up had at least one base hit.

“Anytime you have 15 hits in a game, regardless of the opponent, that helps. Some of the hardest-hit balls were caught. So we could’ve had more than 15 hits,” White said.

Layton Logan had a big game at the plate for the Cougars by going 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and one run scored. He had an RBI double in the top of the fifth inning and an RBI double in the top of the sixth. Carsen Stegall was 2-for-3 with one walk and two runs scored while Jake Allen was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.

Caiden Farmer was charged with the loss after allowing nine runs, eight of them earned, on 11 hits with no strikeouts and three walks over four innings.