Hawks’ State Title Nearly Pain-Free Reese Remains Undefeated As Lakeland Earns Its Repeat

Call it a state championship prescription: three Advil tablets and seven innings of guts.

After pitching nine innings two days earlier, Lakeland junior Kurt Reese wanted to start the State A-2 championship baseball game Saturday afternoon.

Reese iced his arm Friday night, popped three pain pills just before the title game and then froze rival Moscow on four hits and 10 strikeouts as Lakeland repeated as state champion with a 3-2 victory at Storey Park.

Oh by the way, Reese has never lost in three years of varsity action. The win pushed his career record to 21-0.

The state crown is Lakeland’s third in five years. The Hawks finish the season 20-3 and Moscow concludes 17-11.

The only time Reese may have been feeling the effects of pitching with little rest came in the opening inning. He walked leadoff batter Heath Cash.

Cash advanced to third on a wild pickoff attempt and scored on an infield hit by Rob Sumner.

Lakeland had scoring opportunities in three of the first four innings, but couldn’t convert. The Hawks looked as if they might strand runners at second and third in the fifth, too.

Saying afterward that he sensed it was his moment, shortstop Scott Rothrock laced a two-out, two-run single as Lakeland went ahead 2-1.

And the turnaround seemed to give Reese a shot of adrenaline in the bottom of the inning when he struck out the Bears in order.

Lakeland added an important run in the sixth, again scoring with two outs. Brady White was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a groundout. That’s when Lakeland coach Ken Busch brought in a quicker runner, Dan Temple, for White.

Seconds later, the change proved brilliant when Bryan Phelps drove in Temple with a single.

“That was the only great coaching move I made all tournament,” Busch quipped.

Moscow pulled within one in its next at bat, taking advantage of three Lakeland errors. But Reese worked out of the jam, stranding a Bears runner at third with a strikeout and an unassisted putout on a grounder.

“It’s a little sore now and it was sore to begin (the game),” Reese said of his arm. “But when we got the lead and I struck them out the next inning I kind of sensed we were going to win. But I was really tense at 1-0.”

Asked how he was able to come back after Thursday, Reese said: “God just helped me. I give a lot of credit to Him.”

Rothrock said he stepped to the plate in the fifth inning knowing he had to do something.

“Everyone has had their chance this year and it was my chance,” he said. “It was there for me. I started last year, but this feels great. It’s the most important (championship) because I’m a senior.”

Lakeland exacted some revenge with the win. The Bears defeated the Hawks 4-1 in the district title game. Lakeland beat Moscow in three of four games this spring.

“It’s a big rivalry every time we play them,” Reese said. “We knew it was going to be tough today. They played real good.”

Moscow coach Kevin Winterrowd wanted to shoulder the blame for what he called poor decisions on his part.

“It’s not the end of the word, even though they might feel like it now,” Winterrowd said.

Reese knows what Lakeland can do for an encore next year.

“We’ll go for three next year,” he said.

Lakeland 3, Moscow 2

Lakeland 000 021 0 - 3 7 4

Moscow 100 001 0 - 2 4 1

Reese and Dockter; Jensen, Pool (6) and Sumner. W-Reese (10- 0). L-Jensen (1-6). HITS: Lakeland-Reese 2, Holt, Rothrock, Phelps, Skidmore, Dershem. Moscow-Carr 2, Sumner, Lambert. 2B-Reese. , DataTimes