High school baseball: Rams claim 2A state title

Greene Central’s season-long charge of dominance didn’t end until the Rams were state champions.

The team that entered the playoffs undefeated as the top seed in the East Region completed a two-game sweep of Burns on Saturday to claim the 2A crown in an 8-5 victory.

It was the sixth state championship for Greene Central (28-1).

Riley Radford smashed a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning to make a strong opening statement. A two-run error in the second combined with an RBI single stretched the lead to 6-0, which was enough for starter Braden Burress.

He allowed Colby Putnam’s solo home run in the third and an RBI groundout in the fifth made it 6-2.

But Elijah Monroe’s grounder made it 7-2 GC and an error that made it 8-2 rounded out the Greene Central scoring and helped fend off a last-gasp three-run rally by Burns in the top of the seventh inning.

Burns (31-2), the top seed out of the West, lost its only two game of the season in the title series. The Bulldogs out-hit the Rams, 11-7, but also committed two errors.

Riley Radford was 2-for-3 with four RBIs and Will Radford was 3-for-4 to lead Greene Central. Easton Creech also drove in a run for the winners.

It was the Rams’ first championship since 2007. They also won it all in 1972, ’80, ’87 and ’90.