Corner baseball defeats American Christian Academy to claim AHSAA 4A state title

JACKSONVILLE — Corner defeated American Christian Academy 13-0 in the finale of a three-game 4A championship series on Thursday, claiming the program's first state title.

American Christian Academy held a 1-0 series lead going into Thursday, winning Game 1 by a score of 7-2 on Wednesday. Corner tied the series at 1-all, taking Game 2 by a score of 7-6 in come-from-behind fashion on Thursday afternoon, forcing a winner-takes-all Game 3.

Corner put up two runs in the top of the first, behind an RBI a piece from Brendan Conner and Brodie Dunlap. It tacked two more runs onto its lead in the third inning when Conner tripled to right center, giving the Yellow Jackets the 4-0 advantage. Corner scored three more runs in the fourth inning with two RBIs from Eli Cannon and another from Conner.

Conner and Dunlap each added another RBI in the sixth inning to score two more Yellow Jacket. Corner added on four more runs in the seventh to expand its lead to 13-0. The Yellow Jackets finished the game collecting 14 hits.

Conner finished as the series MVP, going 4-for-4 from the plate with five RBIs in Game 3. He also started on the mound for the Yellow Jackets in the final game, pitching a complete game and allowing zero runs off of three hits while striking out nine.

Eric Hines and Clayton Rice each singled for ACA's two hits of the night. Jaylen Crocker started on the mound for the Patriots, going 3⅔ innings and giving up seven runs off of eight hits, walking three and striking out one. Carson Bishop came on in relief for Crocker in the fourth inning, going 1⅔ innings, allowing two runs off of four hits. Brooks Smith closed the game out on the mound for the Patriots, pitching 1⅔ innings and allowing four runs off of five hits, striking out two.

GAME 2:Corner defeats American Christian Academy to force a Game 3 in the 4A championship series

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