PANAMA CITY BEACH—The Wallace Govs and the Gulf Coast Commodores were tied 3-3 headed into the sixth inning. The Govs scored three big runs in that inning and that made the difference.
Those thee runs led to a 7-4 victory and gave the Govs the championship of the prestigious Visit Panama City Beach Baseball Classic.
That memorable sixth inning began when the seventh place hitter in the lineup Sean Darnell reached base on an infield single. That was immediately followed by a single to centerfield from Grayson Ashe and a bunt single from Corey Berry to loaded the bases.
That flipped the lineup over, Now back at the top of the lineup, Logan Johnson untied the game with a two-run single to right field. Carlos Vasquez then hit into a double play, but that allowed Berry to score from third place and put the Govs up 6-3.
The Govs would add another run in top of the seventh on an RBI single from Berry, while the Commodores scored their final run on an error in the bottom half of the inning.
The win in the championship game means the Govs have begun the 2023 season with a 4-0 record. It's not something new head coach Ryan Ihle had thought about.
"I didn't dream about it, but I always thought it was possible," Ihle said. "We had worked hard in the fall and early spring."
One tournament official said this tournament featured 16 of the best junior college baseball teams in the country. So for Wallace to bring a championship back to Dothan is quite an accomplishment.
"It's great to win something like this," Ihle said. "But this is only four of nearly 60 games. We haven't proven anything yet. But if we continue to work hard and play like this, hopefully there will be many more moments like this."
The team wasn't the only one to bring home some hardware, Pitcher/designated hitter Kade Snell was named the Don Sutton Most Valuable Player.
"This is a great honor, but I'm more proud of that big cup (trophy) over there," Snell said. "This was a team effort and I couldn't be happier about that."