MANHATTAN – Girard waited a long time for Friday to arrive.
For the first time in school history, the Trojans can say they are state champions. Girard cruised to its first baseball title in school history, defeating Silver Lake 8-0 in the 4A championship game at Tointon Stadium in Manhattan.
Trojan starter Kam Smith was stellar throughout the game and the primary reason for Girard’s dominance. He ended the day with a complete game shutout while only allowing three hits and three walks. He also struck out 10 and ended the day with the victory.
“I woke up this morning and knew I was going to give it everything I had for this town,” Smith said. “At the end of the day, I wanted to do it for Girard. It’s been amazing for my family, so I’m super lucky to grow up here and I’m going to enjoy coming back and seeing everyone.”
He started perfectly, pitching 3 2/3 innings before finally allowing his first hit and base runner of the game, but made it through the inning with no further damage. His biggest threat came after walking two batters with only one out in the top of the fifth, but he played it cool and forced a double-play to escape the inning unharmed.
Girard pitcher Kam Smith was all smiles after his complete game victory in the state championship game over Silver Lake.
The future Arkansas Razorback rolled through the sixth, and his heroic day could’ve well been over from there. However, Smith signaled to the dugout after walking off the mound that he wanted to stay and finish the game off in the seventh.
And there certainly was some thought from Trojan head coach Bob Fornelli to go ahead and pull Smith following his shutout six innings, especially since Smith was coming off a short week following a Monday outing.
“We had some intention of taking him out, but he wanted it,” Fornelli said. “I think he only had five pitches left, so it’s a good thing he got it done when he did. But just the guts, he’s a good one. There aren’t too many people in the country who have a guy like that, so we’re fortunate to have one.”
Girard captured its first state championship in school history.
Smith said his motivation to finish things off once again came down to his desire to finish off for his community.
“I wanted to do it for everyone,” Smith said. “I wanted to go the distance. I threw Monday, I’ve never bounced back in the spring this quick and I just wanted to do what felt good. I prepared well, I wanted to finish it out and wanted to be at the bottom of the dog pile in the seventh.”
Smith’s outing also impressed Silver Lake head coach Tyler Seele, who said the Eagles didn’t take advantage of the few opportunities they had to challenge the Trojan star.
“The thing that makes him so tough is that he locates everything and he gets on top of hitters, so you’re constantly battling from behind in the count if you don’t jump on it early,” Seele said. “I was actually happy with our at-bats. We minimized the strikeouts. Sure, we had some, but we got the ball in play. We had a couple of innings there with traffic on the bases and couldn’t get them in. He’s a really good pitcher, the best one we saw by far.”
Silver Lake catcher Dom Monhollon puts a tag on a Girard runner Friday in Manhattan
At the plate for the Trojans, Benjamin Cullen led the way with two hits and three RBIs. Jaxton Smith, Robbie Bruning and Aiden Ashbacher each had an RBI as well. For Silver Lake, Braden Hogle went the longest on the mound, pitching 4 ? innings with two earned runs and five strikeouts.
The Trojans wasted little time putting themselves ahead early. Highlighted by a bases-clearing triple by Cullen, which scored three, Girard plated five runs in the first inning to quickly charge out to a big lead.
After three scoreless innings, the Trojans got some insurance in the bottom of the fifth to add to their lead. After plating two runs with no outs, Girard added one more with two down to make it a commanding 8-0 lead with two innings to play, and that scoreline held the rest of the way.
Girard's Aiden Ashbacher slides safely into second base Friday against Silver Lake.
And this could just be the beginning for the Trojans. With only one senior on this year’s team in Ashbacher, Girard will return nearly its entire squad for next season, including Smith for another run at a title.
“There’s motivation because there is going to be a big target on your back,” Fornelli said. “And the next group hasn’t earned it. This group earned it this year, but you have to go earn it next year.”