WICHITA – Will Ray didn’t have time to brace for impact.

With St. Thomas Aquinas protecting a three-run lead in the Class 5A championship game at Eck Stadium, Shawnee Heights threatened in the sixth inning when Cayden Lindsay doubled. Two batters later, Michael Lilly blistered a ball to deep left.

Saints left fielder Ray got a good jump and made a running catch before slamming hard into the wall.

“I kind of just blacked out,” Ray said. “I was going back, I saw the wall, and I just went for it. I saw the ball the whole way and tracked it down.

“My knee got banged up a little bit, but the adrenaline kind of pushed it away.”

The highlight-reel play squashed one of Heights’ last chances to generate momentum as Aquinas went on to secure a 4-0 victory, with James Forgy closing out the state championship game for the third straight year and sealing the Saints’ third consecutive state title.

Aquinas’ Lincoln Boyle and Forgy combined for a two-hit shutout to cap a dominant tournament on the mound for the Saints, who allowed just three runs in the postseason.

“Huge moment in the game,” Aquinas coach Rick Sabath said of Ray’s catch. “I thought both the balls they hit to left were gone. Will just made an unbelievable catch.”
Boyle, a University of Arkansas commit, allowed one hit and struck out seven in four innings before Forgy came on for the fifth with Aquinas up 3-0.

“Lincoln Boyle set the tone with the outstanding start,” Sabath said. “He's been battling some stuff and hadn't started since May 1. We really were counting on two innings and he gave us four. Just an unbelievable effort, and for James to close out the third straight state championship game was special.”

Forgy retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, striking out three. He worked a 1-2-3 seventh in his familiar spot of closing out state title games, coaxing a grounder to second to end it.

“It’s a product of all the other guys. They get it to me late in the game with run support, so it makes it a pretty easy job,” Forgy said.

Aquinas finished with eight hits, seven of them singles. Tommy Costello drove in the Saints’ first two runs with an RBI single in the second and a sacrifice bunt in the fourth. Forgy added an RBI single in the fourth while Aquinas’ fourth run came on a Heights error in the sixth.

“The bottom of our order with Costello, (Jett) Wood and (Luke) Bernhardt really were clutch today,” Sabath said. “They've been working really hard to improve their game.”

That collective approach was a hallmark of Aquinas’ senior class.

“We’re very team-oriented,” Ray said. “We played as a group and got it done. It's the best way to go out.”

Aquinas also won 4-0 in Friday’s semifinal against Great Bend, a rematch of last year’s championship game. Nick Sabers went six innings before Forgy closed out the seventh.

Shawnee Heights beat St. James Academy on Friday 6-3 to earn its title shot before struggling to get the bats going in the championship game. Heights finished 21-10.

“Like I told the guys, it just wasn't our day,” Shawnee Heights coach Jason Brown said. “We hit some balls hard. We just couldn't find holes, and they did, and I mean that's the way baseball works sometimes.

“But win or lose it doesn't matter, this is a special class. It's been a long time since Shawnee Heights has been in this game (2016) and I'm so proud of them.”

Heights' Camden Floberg went five innings on the mound, allowing three runs. 

Aquinas finished 23-8 with five of the losses coming to out-of-state opponents. The Saints’ nine-player senior class is comprised of Boyle, Forgy, Brady Stewart, Ray, Sabers, Henry Goodwin, Sterling Thornton, Owen Kitts and Micah Smith.

“A few of us have played together since we were six,” Forgy said. “The culture is just unreal.”

“The senior class is just special,” Sabath said. “I’m honored to coach them. The camaraderie, the buy-in, the coachability, it’s just something that I'll always remember.

“To me it’s more about the relationship building. The three-peat is awesome and amazing and special. But I love these guys, and they are what I’m most proud of.”