Sr. Legion wins state with coach in mind

Justin Brewer is met at home plate by Shelbyville teammates after scoring the tying run in the championship Sunday. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

With their frail and ill leader watching from a chair just outside the dugout, Shelbyville Post 23 dug in from near elimination to win four straight games in two days to claim the Tennessee Senior American Legion state championship.

The journey became complete after Shelbyville defeated Gallatin 5-4 in a gut-wrenching 11 innings on Sunday at Dave Hall Field on the campus of Columbia State Community College.

Co-interim coach Roy Turner shook his head as he described his team's earning the crown with Naron looking on.

"Oh, it's unbelievable. Coach Naron is Legion baseball personified. I think his face is known all over the state for Legion baseball. To win this for him is absolutely huge. I think the kids really put forth a super effort for him and got it done."

Randall Harvey volunteered his time to help Turner coach the squad after Naron was unable to be in the dugout as he battles diabetes and cirrhosis.

The team is comprised of players from Manchester and Tullahoma as well as Bedford County.

Posing with the first-place plaque for Post 23 are, front from left, Seth Draine, Chase Dial, Will Trice, Josh Brown, Phillip Heikkinen, Connor Tracy, Jeremy Estill; back, coach Roy Turner, Jordan Burchett, Michael Watkins, Tyler Vannatta, Sam Davis, Justin Brewer and coach Randall Harvey. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

"They start out not knowing each other very well, and they really gelled into a team of friends and they'll be friends for life. I hope they made Legion proud, and they certainly made me proud," Turner said.

After dropping their first game of the double-elimination tournament 19-2 to the same Gallatin team back on Friday, it would indeed take a "super effort" to battle back.

"I think it brought us down to earth because we came in thinking that we were going to blow Gallatin away," tournament most valuable player Chase Dial said. "We beat them both times this summer. We had one bad inning, and we kind of needed it I think. We just got our heads on straight and just played ball and made simple plays."

Falling behind 4-1 to Post 17 late Sunday complicated matters for Shelbyville, but they never pressed, slowly put themselves in position to win it.

"We talked early that they would come out smoking and probably get ahead of us early in the game. So, it wasn't a real big surprise that they did jump out on us. But, we knew that we would outlast them," Turner said.

"The hitting actually came around a lot better than we expected. We outhit our opponents in every game but the first one."

Jeremy Estill started on the mound for Shelbyville. After walking two batters in the bottom of the fourth, Chase Dial relieved Estill. Sam Davis pitched the final four innings. The three right-handers combined to leave 16 Post 17 runners stranded, including Davis working out of a bases-load, no-out jam in the eighth.

Chase Dial was presented tournament MVP honors by Post Department Commander Earl Watson (left) and Department Baseball Chairman Jimmy Taylor. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

In the fourth, Phillip Heikkinen singled and moved up on the basepaths thanks to a single from Connor Tracy and scored on a Will Trice groundout to shrink Shelbyville's deficit to 4-2.

A two-out walk in the fifth to Dial followed by a double to the right-center field gap from Justin Brewer made it 4-3.

"We just took it inning-by-inning. If we were down we just chipped away at the lead. We were just chopping wood the whole time, one chop at a time," said Dial, who was part of the Junior American Legion team that won the state championship in Dyersburg last summer.

Brewer reached via fielder's choice in the seventh and scored the tying run behind singles from Heikkinen and Tracy.

Shelbyville failed to get the go-ahead run to cross in the eighth despite loading the bases with only one down. That would have been too easy. This squad prefers a flair for the dramatic.

So, with two outs in the book in the top of the eleventh, Tracy launched an opposite-field double down the right field line. Davis walked. Trice grounded a ball deep into the 5-6 hole that trickled off the glove of Gallatin shortstop Nolan Gray, which allowed pinch runner Seth Draine to slide head first across the dish with the game-winning score.

Shelbyville (17-12) advances to the southeast regional in Sumter, S.C. Their first game is against Puerto Rico on Aug. 6 at 10 a.m. EDT.

Heikkinen and Tracy totaled three hits apiece. Estill doubled, singled and was intentionally walked twice.

Post 23 second baseman Sam Davis rolls a double play against Gallatin. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Shelbyville 3, Gallatin 1: Earlier on Sunday, Michael Watkins was dominant on the hill for Post 23, allowing just two walks and one hit over nine innings while striking out 10.

Singles by Estill, Davis, Watkins and Draine in succession contributed to a three-run, seventh-inning rally that provided the difference.

Estill finished with two of Shelbyville's six hits.

Shelbyville 8, Columbia 4: Post 23 guaranteed there would be a new Tennessee state champ by eliminating the tournament hosts late Saturday.

Winning pitcher Josh Brown struck out four, gave up nine hits and walked one in six innings. Dial entered with a runner on in the seventh and got the final nine outs.

"We went from one of the worst games in our history to one of the very best the next day," Turner said. "Beating Columbia was a huge feat in itself. They bring in a tremendous team every year. They're sluggers 1-9 and have great speed. Our pitcher Josh Brown did a great job and Chase Dial came on in relief."

Doubles by Watkins and Draine after a Brewer single highlighted a two-run ninth.

Watkins doubled twice, scored twice and singled to carry the hitting attack. Tyler Vannatta, Davis and Trice each had two hits.

Shelbyville 10, Dyersburg 6: Estill and Trice led a 17-hit attack to help Post 23 to their first win of the tournament.

Dial provided several strong innings of relief for Shelbyville. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Trice drove in four runs with an RBI single and a three-run fourth inning homer. Estill had two singles and a two-run roundtripper.

Brown, Brewer and Vannatta had two hits apiece. Dial delivered a two-run double.

Dial picked up the win with five innings of relief work for starter Jordan Cooper. Davis closed the game with a hitless seventh. Cooper yielded two runs on three walks and five hits in three innings.

Dyersburg (15-17) fought back from a early 4-0 deficit but could not catch Shelbyville despite a two-run homer by Nick Newell.

Ryan Seaton had three hits, including a double and an RBI.

--The Daily Herald of Columbia contributed to this story.