Carrollton walks off West Holmes to win district title

By Ray Sarvis

FPS Correspondent

Perhaps Carrollton High School should consider a name change thanks to its baseball team.FPS

With a flair for the dramatic reminiscent of the 1980 Cleveland Browns—nicknamed the “Kardiac Kids”—the Warriors have developed a habit of pushing games to the final out, leaving fans with pounding hearts and little fingernail left to bite.

Carrollton has played just two postseason games so far, and both have ended in walk-off wins.

After receiving a first-round bye, the second-seeded Warriors opened tournament play on May 28 in the Division II district semifinal against Cambridge. Down two runs in the bottom of the seventh, Carrollton rallied for an 8-7 win.

Three days later, the Warriors faced West Holmes in the district final on May 31, and again, they delivered late-inning heroics.

The contest quickly developed into a pitchers’ duel between Carrollton’s Isaac Husted and West Holmes’ Manny Camacho. The scoreboard remained blank until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Warriors broke through.

Cooper Haun led off with a ground ball single. After a strikeout, Brayden Swearingen laid down a bunt that moved Haun to second. With two outs and Jayven Johnson at the plate, Haun advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on another wild pitch that came on strike three, giving Carrollton a 1-0 lead.

“We faced West Holmes back in mid-April,” said Carrollton head coach Brian Connelly. “They walked us off 11-10. So we knew their hitters, and we actually saw Camacho for a couple innings late in that game. We knew what we had to do against him.”

West Holmes tied the game in the sixth. After an infield single by Morgan Smith, Husted got a flyout before issuing a walk to Jefferson Yoder. Cooper Booth followed with an RBI single to right, knotting the score at 1-1.

But Husted bounced back with a quick seventh, needing just eight pitches to retire the side.

In the bottom of the seventh, Carrollton again showed its clutch gene. Jacob Whitmore led off with a line drive single to left. Booth, who had relieved Camacho in the fifth, then walked Landon James on four pitches. Haun grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, moving Whitmore to third with two outs.

That brought Hunter Allison to the plate. On a 2-2 count, Allison lofted a single into right field, scoring Whitmore and setting off a celebration. Carrollton walked off with a 2-1 win and its first district championship since 1994.

“Winning districts the way we did made it even more special after 31 years,” Connelly said. “Two walk-offs by a group that never quits. I couldn’t be prouder of them. It was a complete team effort in both games. It took all of us. We simply believed.”

Husted was outstanding on the mound, going the distance while allowing five hits and one walk and striking out seven. Allison finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Whitmore went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

For West Holmes (12-11), Booth went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Smith finished 1-for-2 with a run scored.

Carrollton (20-5) now advances to the regional tournament, hoping to continue its magical run.