Midway wins state 2-A baseball title

June 08--GREENSBORO -- Midway's baseball players and coaches posed for a team picture following a disappointing loss in last year's 1-A state championship series.

Before facing Bunker Hill this weekend in the 2-A finals, the Raiders were presented with a 2013 printout that featured encouraging words from 11-year-old Julianna Raynor, who had taken time last summer to write on the back of the picture and say the community was still proud of the group.

The Raynor family passed the picture along to head coach Jason Fussell, and the coaching staff finally shared the note with the Raiders this week. After dropping Game 2 of the best-of-three series Saturday at UNC-Greensboro, Midway pulled out a 4-2 victory in the nightcap to claim its first state championship since 1981.

"We just really wanted to win," junior catcher Kyle Hawley said. "We had all these supporters out here, and I just felt confident we'd come through."

Midway (27-5) scored three times in the top of the first inning and added a key insurance run in the sixth. Left-handed pitcher Matthew Barefoot took care of business from there.

Starting on the mound for only the second time this season -- and the first time since breaking his left hand during an at-bat against Scotland on April 19 -- Barefoot tossed a complete game. He ended the finale with his seventh and eighth strikeouts, setting off a wild celebration near the mound.

"My adrenaline was pumping, and I just knew I had to get the job done," said Barefoot, who was named the finals MVP.

Four hours removed from a 4-3 loss to the Bears, who had used a three-run sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie against starting pitcher Taylor Calcutt, Midway had five of its first six hitters reach base in Game 3.

A throwing error on a groundball to third allowed Cody Baker to advance to second base, and Calcutt walked before Hawley delivered an RBI single to center. Luke Clark's hard-hit RBI single to left chased starting pitcher Cole Ervin, and Tyler Pope greeted opening-game starter Colton Chapman with an RBI single that gave the Raiders a 3-0 lead.

A hit batter, an off-target throw on a sacrifice bunt and a walk loaded the bases for Bunker Hill (27-7) with one out in the bottom of the third inning, and Barefoot struck out Cooper Wray. Hayden McGraw drew a walk to produce the Bears' first run, and Justin Setzer raced home on a wild pitch, leaving two runners in scoring position.

With Ervin facing a 2-1 count, Cameron Chapman broke from third during Barefoot's windup and attempted to steal home, but Hawley caught Barefoot's fastball and applied the tag in time.

"I just saw him out of the corner of my eye," Hawley said. "We were throwing a fastball, so I was just going to get up and move outside to have a clear tag."

Ervin opened the bottom of the fourth inning with a double that came within a few feet of clearing the left-field fence for a game-tying home run, and a popped-up bunt forced the burly slugger to remain at second. He had no chance to score when Colton Chapman, who sits at the top of the order, dribbled a single through the left side of the infield with two away.

Barefoot induced a groundout with runners on second and third to escape the jam, and Baker's RBI single in the sixth inning gave the Raiders a two-run cushion that held up.

"The guys knew they had it in them," Fussell said. "They worked hard every day."

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