Covington baseball ends emotional season with state title win for coach Brad Warmath

Memphis Commercial Appeal

MURFREESBORO — Kyle Ginn was supposed to be Covington's starting catcher, but he missed most of the season after he tore his ACL playing football. With the Chargers up by nine runs in the state title game, coach Brad Warmath put the senior in for one last at-bat.

And in his only at-bat of the tournament, Ginn blasted a two-run home run in the fourth inning that secured a 11-1 run-rule victory for Covington over Forrest and the Class AA state championship.

Ginn limped around the bases and pumped his fist in the air as his teammates crowded home plate to meet him. His home run made for a more emotional ending to an already emotional season.

Covington players celebrate their 11-1 win against Forrest in an TSSAA Class AA State Baseball Tournament championship game Friday, May 24, 2019, in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

"He threw it right down the middle, and I didn't miss," Ginn said.

Ty Warmath set the tone for the game early. The senior Memphis signee took the mound and retired the first three batters he faced.

He led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple, which led to a 5-run first inning for the Chargers.

"That's something we talked about all year — setting the pace," Warmath said.

The momentum carried Covington to its third baseball state championship and first since 2006

It was a fitting ending to a roller-coaster season that began with Ty's father, head coach Brad Warmath, falling ill in February. Then his mother, Paige, was diagnosed with cancer.

Through it all, Ty Warmath persevered and kept playing baseball. His teammates and the local community rallied around his him and his family.

"These guys mean the world to me. And this community. We love everybody," Ty Warmath said.

As Brad Warmath slowly regained his strength during the season, he began to make his way back into the dugout. He pushed a major surgery back a week to make sure that he could be in Murfreesboro to witness the Chargers' run through the tournament. The decision enabled him to witness the team capture a state title in person.

"If we could do what we were capable of, we could win," Brad Warmath said. "And they did."