No. 1 Walters State advances to JUCO World Series Championship with 11-9 win over McLennan

GRAND JUNCTION, CO – For the first time since 2018, Walters State will play for a JUCO Baseball World Series Championship.

On Friday, the Senators took on seventh-seeded McLennan for the third time in the World Series in a win-or-go-home contest. The Highlanders struck for three runs in the top of the first, but Walters State scored the next seven and held on for an 11-9 victory to punch their ticket to the Championship.

With the win, the Senators improved to 59-7-1 on the season. 

"How blessed am I to have such a resilient group that I've got," Walters State coach Dave Shelton said. "It was a heavyweight battle, and I am so proud of the way we battled the entire game. That was just a great junior college world series contest." 

The win didn't come without some gutsy performances. Aiden Robertson got the start for the Senators on the mound on just three days rest. Robertson threw 6.2 innings on Friday, allowing eight runs on 12 hits and struck out eight batters on 130 pitches. 

Robertson gave up three runs in the opening inning of the game but hung around and threw up enough zeroes for his offense to give him a lead that he didn't relinquish. 

"I went to the cutter most often, the harder slider," Robertson said. "It seemed to work against their lineup, better than it did the first time against them. I knew in that first inning that I forced weak contact, so I was fine with the three runs because I trusted our hitters to come back in and score."  

After Robertson did his job, Brady Scott took over with two outs in the seventh. Scott got the final out of the inning and threw the final two innings to pick up the save. Scott allowed an unearned run on three hits and struck out four. 

Another gutsy performance for Walters State came from left fielder Atticus Goodson. Forced into the starting lineup due to an injury to Jack Vogele, Goodson homered in his first at-bat of the game. Goodson also threw out a runner at second and third and reached base two more times on hit by pitches.

"Coach just constantly prepares us and tells us that you have to be ready to step up at any time and do your job," Goodson said. "I had a good feeling I was going to have to step up today with Jack getting hurt, but coach has just prepared us and I just went out there and did my thing." 

Along with Goodson at the plate, Tyler Myatt homered for the second straight game while Walker Morgan hit his first home run of the World Series. Carson Cabbage drove in two runs, as well. 

The Highlanders scored three in the top of the first, but Walters State got two back in the bottom half when Cabbage singled in a run and Torbett reached on a dropped third strike that allowed Holden Pantier to score from second.

In the second, Goodson tied the game with a solo home run and then threw out a runner at third in the top of the third to help Robertson put a zero on the scoreboard. In the bottom half of the inning, Walters State would take the lead for good. Pantier walked to lead off the inning, and Myatt hit his 31st home run of the season to make it 5-3. The inning continued when Cabbage reached on an error and Jack Torbett reached on a bunt single. After Taylor Harris loaded the bases with a bunt single, Morgan grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Cabbage and Torbett to make it 7-3.

The Highlanders picked up a run in the fourth, but Walters State got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Pantier was hit by a pitch, moved to third on a double by Myatt and scored on a Cabbage sacrifice fly to make it 8-4. 

McLennan continued to push with two runs in the top of the fifth to make it 8-6, but Morgan made it 9-6 with a solo home run to center in the bottom of the fifth. In the sixth, the Senators continued their trend of scoring every inning as Myatt singled, moved to third on an error and scored on a fielder's choice to make it 10-6.

Two more runs scored for McLennan in the seventh, and they threatened for more with runners on the corners and two outs. However, Scott got a pop out to third to get out of things and keep the score at 10-8. In the bottom half, the Senators scored for the seventh straight inning as Nate Conner singled and scored on a Pantier triple to make it 11-8. 

That would be all the scoring Scott would need, as he allowed an unearned run in the eighth but got a strikeout to limit any more damage. In the ninth, Scott got a flyout and back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.

"I am so proud of our guys for battling the way they did," Shelton said. "It's just a special group." 

Up Next:

Walters State will look for their second National Championship in school history, taking on Salt Lake Community College on Saturday evening at 7 pm MT (9 pm ET). The game can be streamed on ESPN+ (https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/3d5255c6-45ad-4783-945a-a15fb1d71905). 

"You can't look past the fact that it is a championship game, but you just have to go out and play your game," Goodson said. "We have great hitters and have to trust them. We have great pitchers and have to trust them. We just have to go out there and do what we train to do."