Jones, Blue Devils deny Bucks' bid for 1st state title

In a pitcher's duel between two Panhandle teams going for their first state title, Bozeman came up short. Holmes County secured the Class 1A State Championship with a 3-1 win over the Bucks on Thursday night at the Minnesota Twins Spring Training complex near Fort Myers.

The bats for Bozeman (25-5) could not solve Holmes County pitcher Colby Jones, who went all seven innings and struck out 10.

"We felt like we were going to play a little bit better offensively, but their kid did a nice job on the mound, kept us a little bit off balance," Bozeman coach Jeff Patton said. "We swung through some pitches that we'd probably hit a lot of the year. It just wasn't our night."

Bozeman pitcher Derek Hancock kept the Bucks in it with eight strikeouts and only one one run on one hit given up until the seventh inning when the Blue Devils added a pair of insurance runs on a two-RBI hit by Tucker Faircloth. 

"He gave us a chance to win," Patton said.

Holmes County got on the board first when Jameson Bacon led off the third inning with a double to the gap in left centerfield and came home to score on an RBI sacrifice fly by Nate Conner.

Hancock responded by retiring the next 11 batters he faced before Trent Pilcher came up with a one-out single in the seventh. 

"He was cruising, he was dominating," Patton said of Hancock. 

But Jones continued to dominate as well, and he got some help from his defense. The Bucks threatened in the fifth with Larry Street getting his team's first hit of the night on a line drive to left centerfield.

Two batters later, Connor Smith singled to left field to give Bozeman two runners with two outs. A failed pickoff attempt at first base allowed Brandon Hoang to advance to third base, but Jones got Ben McDonald  line out to second base to end the threat. 

In the top of the seventh, Landon Lumpkin followed Pilcher's hit with an infield single, with an errant throw by Jeremy Todd allowing both runners to move into scoring position for Faircloth's single to right field. 

The Bucks attempted to rally in their last at-bat, with Peyton Gay leading off with a single to centerfield and Hoang doubling to deep left field two batters late to bring him home for the first Bozeman run of the night.

Holmes County coach Jeromy Powell then called a mound meeting, bringing in the infield.

"I didn't want them out of position," Powell said. "I just told them that we're not going to worry about that runner at second. Let's just focus on the hitter and do what we've got to do."

Jones answered by striking out the next two batters, getting Street swinging and Smith looking, clinching the championship.

As disappointing as the result of the game was for the Bucks, making it to the state title game and having some hardware to bring home was a first for the program after five times getting to the state semifinals.

"It stings right now for these guys," Patton said, "but it's something they'll look back on and be super proud of."