Major Osbolt reacts after teammates dumped water on him following his walk-off grand slam to give Science Hill the District 1-4A championship over Daniel Boone.
Science Hill's Major Osbolt (3) is all smiles as he approaches home plate to see teammates Brayden Austin (11), Jackson Berry (7) and Sam Lane (19) after his walk-off grand slam to win the District 1-4A championship.
The Science Hill baseball team poses with their District 1-4A championship plaque following Sunday’s win over Daniel Boone.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
The Science Hill baseball team poses with their District 1-4A championship plaque following Sunday’s win over Daniel Boone.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Major Osbolt reacts after teammates dumped water on him following his walk-off grand slam to give Science Hill the District 1-4A championship over Daniel Boone.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Science Hill's Major Osbolt (3) is all smiles as he approaches home plate to see teammates Brayden Austin (11), Jackson Berry (7) and Sam Lane (19) after his walk-off grand slam to win the District 1-4A championship.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Science Hill players and coaches react to Major Osbolt's walk-off grand slam to give the Hilltoppers the District 1-4A championship over Daniel Boone.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Science Hill pitcher Hagan Gibson gave up just one hit over three innings Sunday.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Ben Stevens got the nod to pitch for Daniel Boone in Sunday's District 1-4A championship game.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Science Hill second baseman Caden Wells throws the ball to first in the fifth inning of Sunday's District 1-4A championship game against Daniel Boone.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Daniel Boone players pose with the District 1-4A runner-up plaque.
Major Osbolt got the green light to swing for the fences. The Science Hill senior was happy to oblige with a grand slam to right field that gave the Hilltoppers a 13-3 over Daniel Boone for the District 1-4A baseball championship.
It was the perfect bookend for Osbolt who was Science Hill’s starting pitcher when the game started Saturday morning. After the game was suspended by rain, Osbolt ended it at the plate Sunday afternoon with the 10-run rule enforced after five innings.
Facing a 3-0 count, Osbolt and the Science Hill coaching staff were expecting a fastball up in the zone. That was exactly the pitch and Osbolt delivered the walk-off homer.
“I looked over at the third-base coach and he gave me that 3-0 green light,” Osbolt said. “I knew it was going to be a high fastball. We just want to keep things going and keep playing our game.”
It was the sixth straight district title for the Hilltoppers (30-10), who will play Sevier County in Region 1-4A action Friday. Osbolt finished the day 2-for-3 with five RBIs. Science Hill coach Ryan Edwards said there was no hesitation to have him swing so far ahead in the count.
“We discussed it earlier in the season and told a few hitters to look for the green light,” Edwards said. “There is no hesitation if you’re winning in that situation. We told them their job on a 3-0 count and if they adhere to that, you’ll keep getting 3-0 green lights.”
The Hilltoppers had plenty of green lights with 12 hits overall. Nate Stoots was 2-for-3 with a triple, three RBIs and two runs scored. Lead-off Landon Smelser was 3-for-3 and scored three times. Sam Lane went 2-for-2, while Jackson Berry had two RBIs and scored twice.
Pitcher Hagan Gibson entered Sunday’s action with a 6-3 lead starting the third inning. He gave up a single to Boone’s Graham Jones on the first at-bat, but retired the next nine batters.
“Hagan had nine straight outs including getting Graham the next time around,” Edwards said. “He pitched great, hit his spots, mixed it up and threw his off-speed pitches. I was proud of the way he did that. We wanted to get that big inning going and then it kept going and going.”
Jones led regular-season champion Boone (21-8) with two hits. Ethan Roller and Slader Tinker each had a hit and a run scored.
Braden Gore had the start for Boone on Saturday with Jones entering as the reliever. Ben Stevens threw for the ’Blazers on Sunday.
Daniel Boone will face District 2-4A champion Morristown West in Friday’s Region 1-4A semifinal. It is the Trailblazers’ third straight trip to the regions.
“We would have liked to have won this obviously, but it wasn’t in the cards for us,” Boone coach Scott Hagy said. “It was a tough way to come back after the rain. We don’t like getting 10-run ruled by anybody. They’re hard to beat up here, although they didn’t beat us at our place this season.”
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