By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

MONROEVILLE – On April 23, one of the best baseball seasons in Kingwood Christian school history came to an abrupt end. The Lions traveled to play Monroe Academy in the second round of the AISA AAA state tournament. A Final Four berth was at stake in the series with the Volunteers. Kingwood however fell in successive games by scores of 13-3 and 6-2.

Game 1. Monroe 13 – Kingwood 3

The Lions used three different pitchers in the first game of the series, however none could slow down the Monroe offense. The Volunteers scored at least one run in every inning they had an at-bat, and only needed four innings to reach their prodigious total of 13. Garrett Jones took the mound for the Lions to start and lasted three innings. Jones gave up nine hits, seven earned runs and struck out one before being replaced by Dillon Calhoun. Calhoun only lasted two-third of an inning and gave up six more runs on five hits before he was pulled. Garrett Landry threw the last third of the fourth inning and came away unscathed, but the damage was done. Monroe had sprinted out to a 13-0 lead after four innings, and while Kingwood managed three in the top of the fifth, it was not enough to cut the Volunteer lead to single digits, and the game was called early.

Game 2. Monroe 6 – Kingwood 2

The second contest was much closer than the first, the Lions found themselves down just a single run in the fifth inning, however Monroe pulled away late, ending Kingwood’s season.

Wyatt Baker pitched a complete game for the Lions. He threw 79 pitches, allowed 10 hits and six runs, four of them earned, and struck out nine in the Lions’ swan song performance. Gage Sumrall, a pinch runner for Baker in the bottom of the fourth, and Corey Robinson both scored in the bottom of the inning to bring the score back to 3-2 in favor of Monroe, however the Volunteers rattled off three more runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-2 lead Kingwood could not overcome.

The Lions ended their season with a 22-12-2 record.