Gulde’s complete game sends Vincent to Class 2A championship series
Published 10:39 pm Wednesday, May 7, 2025
The Vincent Yellow Jackets punched their ticket to the Class 2A state championship series, winning games two and three over the Mars Hill Bible Panthers with solid pitching. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines and Tyler Raley)
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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer
VINCENT – Standing on a muddy pitcher’s mound on the newly named “Kenny Wright Field” with just one out left to record, Vincent’s Grayson Gulde stood with his toe on the rubber, taking a deep breath in, and letting it out.
As the count sat at 0-2, Gulde winded up and delivered his pitch. The ball was hit on the ground to the left side and hit the glove of Aiden Gasaway, who threw it to Ethan McElrath at first base.
When the ball hit the back of McElrath’s glove, the umpire signaled an out and the Yellow Jackets’ bench cleared and all of the players wearing black and gold erupted into celebration, entering a dogpile on the first-base line as they kept their season going.
The Vincent Yellow Jackets took down the Mars Hill Bible Panthers in a three-game series on Tuesday, May 6 and Wednesday, May 7, winning games two and three 14-6 and 6-2, respectively, after dropping game one 3-1.
The victory clinched Vincent’s spot in the Class 2A state championship series, where it was just two short seasons ago in 2023. For head coach Timothy Junkins, it was a moment that he will not soon forget, being proud of the team’s resiliency.
“It’s hard to put it into words to be honest,” Junkins said. “Today with Grayson Gulde on the mound, and for him to come out and compete and go all seven innings where sometimes he runs out of gas, but he told me today, he said, ‘Coach, I got this game.’ He got up there, went all seven innings and competed his tail off to get us this win.”
With game one being the one the Yellow Jackets have felt fully confident all season, they brought energy taking the field. However, the Panthers had other plans.
Ace pitcher Aiden Poe took the mound to begin the series, but Mars Hill got on the scoreboard early in the top of the second inning, scoring on a fielder’s choice ground ball and a passed ball.
Vincent answered in the bottom half of the inning, as Gulde scored on a passed ball with the bases loaded and two outs, cutting it to 2-1.
However, an RBI single to left field in the top of the third extended the Panthers lead to 3-1, and that was all they needed.
While Poe went the distance, Mars Hill took game one in a pure pitcher’s duel.
The script flipped in game two though, as with the season on the line, the Yellow Jackets brought the bats.
The Panthers jumped up early with four runs in the first two innings, but Vincent got the game tied back up at 4-4 by the end of the third inning as two walks, a hit batsman and a fielder’s choice, all with the bases loaded, helped to score runs.
Mars Hill scored one run in the bottom of the fourth inning, but RBI hits by Poe, Gulde and Landon Archer in the top of the fifth resulted in a five-run inning to make it a 9-5 game towards the Yellow Jackets.
The Panthers responded with one in the bottom of the fifth, but Vincent came back with four runs in the top of the sixth thanks to a bases-loaded walk by Poe, a ground out from Gulde and an error on a fly ball by McElrath, extending the score to 13-6.
The Yellow Jackets, looking to finish the game off, put the nail in the coffin in the top of the seventh with an RBI single from Poe with two outs, driving in Casen Fields to make it 14-6.
Vincent kept the score at that and forced a game three, with Calvin Johnson getting the win on the mound in a six-inning performance, surrendering two runs on two hits, while striking out five and walking six.
The decisive final game on Wednesday, May 7 saw emotions building on both sides, but the Yellow Jackets knew it was time to push through like they had all season.
In the bottom of the first, Vincent got on top early as Archer and McElrath drew back-to-back walks with the bases loaded to make it 2-0.
Mars Hill responded though in the top of the third, as a single up the middle scored a run to make 2-1. Despite the run though, Archer got the run back for the Yellow Jackets in the bottom half with a single to drive in Gasaway.
The Panthers put the game back within a run on a squeeze bunt with two outs in the top of the fourth, and an error by Gulde allowed the run to score.
However, in the bottom of the fifth, Vincent looked to start putting the game away, and did just that. Poe scored on a passed ball before McElrath reached on an error with a ground ball to second, allowing JT Fields to score.
The Yellow Jackets then plated one more run in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice ground out with Casen Fields on third, making it 6-2.
Then in the top of the seventh, Gulde went to the mound and calmly recorded the final three outs, finishing his complete game with eight strikeouts and three walks.
“I knew coming out here I was going to take it,” Gulde said. “That’s the way I live life, that’s my mentality for everything I do. I just kind of knew I was going to take it. I’ve been saying this since yesterday, ‘Give me the split, give me the rock, I’ll get it done.'”
Now, Vincent heads to the Class 2A state championship series for the second time in three years after losing to Ariton in 2023. It heads back for a shot at revenge and a chance to send this senior class out on top.
“Most of these guys were on that team that fell short in 2023,” Junkins said. “This was their goal from day one this year, and I know they’re going to go out and put everything they got out on that field, put it on the line and hopefully bring that map home.”
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