Bearcats are Lower State Champs!
Class 3A Baseball Lower State Championship • May 9, 2008
Story and Photos by David Martin

Let the celebration begin! The Brookland- Cayce Bearcats celebrate their Lower State championship with a dog pile at the pitcher's mound after defeating Midland Valley 8- 1.

For the second time in a week, the Brookland- Cayce Bearcats had to take on the Mustangs of Midland Valley Friday, May 9 to determine their fate in the Lower State championship hunt.

Midland Valley took the first game 6- 1 with strong hitting against Bearcat pitcher Jeff Estep, scoring six runs in the first four innings. B- C struggled at bat against Midland Valley's pitcher Josh Adams. The Bearcats could only manage one run, and the win by Midland Valley, only the second loss of the year for B- C, forced a game two after a short break.

Game two turned out to be a very different story. B- C put their big pitcher, Adam Westmoreland, on the mound and he took control of the game from the very first batter. He struck out 17 batters on the night, with fastballs ranging from 89 to 93 miles per hour and only allowed one run on two hits.

On the offensive side, B- C was ready for Midland Valley's right hander, Cody McElhaney. Having just seen him four nights ago, B- C scored eight runs on twelve hits including a four run fifth inning.

Brookland- Cayce pitcher Jeff Estep

The Bearcats 8- 1 win of the second game earned them the Lower State title and gave them the right to go up against A.C. Flora for the class 3A state championship.