Smoky Mountain All-Stars clinch historic, dramatic state tourney win

NEWPORT — At Newport City Park on Sunday, Brody Holloway stepped to the plate with a chance to make history.

He did exactly that, smacking a one-out RBI single through the left side to score Journey Kyker for a 14-13 win over South Jefferson in the Little League Intermediate Division State Tournament.

The victory put Smoky Mountain into the losers’ bracket finals at 4 p.m. with a chance to advance to the championship round on Monday.

But for Cocke County specifically, this win also secured the league’s first state tournament win in six years, according to head coach Blaine Hartsell.

Holloway’s moment was one of multiple clutch performances for Smoky, which outlasted a pesky South Jefferson team that overcame a six-run deficit to induce the dramatic finish.

Smoky held a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Rylan Parton scored on a passed ball for a 5-3 lead.

A hit from Skylar Kyker brought Journey Kyker across the plate for a 6-3 advantage, and Skylar scored on another wild pitch for a 7-3 lead.

Cam Brannon hit a sacrifice fly to score Holloway for an 8-3 lead, but a controversial call at third base ended the inning after a Smoky runner was called out.

After starting pitcher Kolby Fine induced three quick outs, Smoky continued to produce for a 9-3 lead off an RBI double from Hudson Hall.

At that point, Smoky’s victory looked all but secured.

But South Jefferson flipped that thought in a hurry, stacking four runs in the top of the fourth — three on a three-RBI single from Cooper Allen to make the score 9-7.

A single gave the visitors a chance to take the lead with two runners on and the go-ahead run at the plate, but Fine forced a fly-out to third to end the threat.

Smoky got a run back in the fourth, as Zachary Hartsell scored from third on a wild pitch,

but two strikeouts and a groundout brought the visitors back to the dish.

They quickly made things interesting again, putting runners on the corners with one out and the tying run at the plate.

A two-RBI double from Andre Hall cut the deficit to just one at 10-9, but Parton ended the threat with a catch in left field.

Braelyn Talley and Skyler Ricks hit back-to-back singles to put two on for Smoky in the bottom half, and Fine knocked an RBI groundout for an 11-9 lead.

Ricks slid across home on a wild pitch for a 12-9 advantage, and once again, Smoky stretched its lead back out.

But South Jefferson answered once more — this time on a two-out, two-RBI single from Cooper Allen to cut the deficit to one again — before Smoky shut down the rest of the side.

Dexton Webb provided a bit of cushion by scoring on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, putting Smoky up 13-11.

Yet again, though, South Jefferson did not go away quietly.

They got a run back the top of the seventh to make the score 13-12, and with runners on the corners, Hartsell brought Holloway in to relieve Fine on the mound.

With Smoky one out from victory, South Jefferson tied the game at 13-all.

But an impressive two-out grab from left fielder Rylan Parton prevented what would have been the go-ahead run, and it brought Smoky to the plate with a chance to walk it off.

Journey Kyker drew a walk to get on, then made his way to third to set the stage for Holloway.

Finally, Holloway knocked in the winning run before his teammates mobbed him behind first base.

The moment encapsulated the kind of toughness Hartsell has noticed from Holloway throughout the postseason, as Smoky won its district tournament before moving on to the state round.

“We threw in a kid who had not pitched in two months since league ball — maybe game eight — and he pounded the strike zone,” Hartsell said. “Literally made one error in two tournaments — and then he came up to the plate and made a play to score the winning run. He’s a competitor.”

That mindset is one that Hartsell said is shared across his team’s lineup.

“This team bends a lot,” he said. “They have their ups and downs, but they have heart, and they fight to the end. One through 13 — which, we’re missing a kid today because of church, and we understand that — every kid responds to anything negative that happens to them, and they battled back at the end.”

After he crossed first, Holloway was carried off the field for a photo then doused with water in the dugout.

But amidst the smiles and the laughs, Hartsell’s message for the next game was clear: finish.

“We’ve got the pitching to finish it all, but we’ve got to finish the game,” Hartsell said. “We can’t kick it around and let them back in it, which we did today.

“We had our foot on the gas pedal, got up, and let off the gas. We’ve got to force the issue. We’ve got to finish.”