Walters State battles through adversity to win TCCAA/Region 7 Baseball Championship

COLUMBIA, TN – With their backs against the wall, the Walters State baseball team rose to the occasion.

On Saturday, the Senators entered the TCCAA/Region 7 Championship needing two wins over host Columbia State, a Charger team that beat the Senators on Friday and won two-out-of-three in the regular season. 

In game one on Saturday, thanks to an unreal pitching outing from Bridger Hamilton and some red-hot hitting from Walters State, the Senators won a 22-4 game in seven innings. Game two was the opposite, as the two teams' depleted pitching staffs battled tough. However, in the end, a Kole Fenton two-run home run, a Drew Blalock solo home run and great relief appearances from Justin Bell and Tim Tyler were enough to give Walters State the TCCAA/Region 7 Championship with a 5-2 victory. 

The TCCAA/Region 7 Tournament Championship is the 16th in Walters State program history. The Senators have won six conference tournament titles since 2018. 

Because of his effort in game one, Hamilton was named the TCCAA/Region 7 Tournament MVP. 

GAME ONE: Walters State 22, Columbia State 4 (7 Innings)

In game one, Hamilton made his first appearance on the mound in almost a month and saved the Walters State pitching staff with a phenomenal outing. 

Hamilton threw six innings on the mound, giving up two runs on five hits while striking out two. Dakota Crumbley threw the final inning, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits and striking out two. 

Offensively, the Senators had six batters with three or more hits, and the team totaled 24 hits. Hayden Blair led the way with four hits, two home runs and two RBIs. Kole Fenton hit a home run and drove in five runs, and Drew Blalock had four hits, a home run and four RBIs. Holden Pantier and Luke Graham also homered, and Pantier drove in four runs. Jackson Berry and Brady Dalton each collected three hits, as well. 

The Senators started early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. Fenton led off with a double, and Pantier followed with a single. Following a groundout that moved both runners up, Blalock singled in both of them to make it 2-0.

In the second, the Senators added four more runs. Graham walked and Dalton singled to put two runners on, and Fenton grounded out but scored Graham. Pantier drove in Dalton with an RBI single, and after a Blair single, Blalock followed with an RBI single. The final run of the inning came on a Kenny Cox RBI single that made it 6-0. 

Following a scoreless third, Walters State tacked on five more in the fourth. Blair led off the inning with a solo home run, and Berry singled in Cox later in the inning to make it 8-0. Graham was next up, and he smoked a two-run home run that got the lead to 10-0. Fenton drove in the final run of the inning, an RBI single that scored Dalton to make it 11-0. 

Columbia State got on the board with a run in the top of the fifth, but Walters State blew the game open with eight runs in the bottom of the fifth. Those runs scored on a Blair solo home run, a Blalock solo home run right after, a Berry two-RBI double, a Dalton RBI single and a Fenton three-run home run that made it 19-1. 

The Chargers scored another run in the top of the sixth, but Pantier answered in the bottom of the inning with a three-run home run that made it 22-2. The Chargers final two runs came in the top of the seventh, but the Senators closed things out for the run-rule victory. 

GAME TWO: Walters State 5, Columbia State 2

In game two, the Chargers scored the first two runs of the game, but the Senators answered with the final five to win the Championship. 

On the mound, Colton Richards got the start and threw 2.2 innings. Richards allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out one. Justin Bell (3-0) replaced Richards with two outs in the third and pitched the next three innings. Bell allowed just one hit and struck out two. Tim Tyler threw the final 3.1 innings and was nearly untouchable, allowing one hit while striking out eight. 

At the plate, Fenton led the way with a huge two-run home run. Blalock smoked a solo shot, his 29th home run of the season, and Pantier and Cox both drove in runs. 

The two teams traded zeroes in the first two innings, but Columbia State struck first with two runs in the top of the third. Needing a response, the Senators cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning as Fenton singled and Pantier doubled him home to make it 2-1. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Dalton started a rally with a walk that turned the lineup over. That brought up Fenton, and he smoked a two-run home run to give the Senators a 3-2 lead. Blair and Blalock then hit back-to-back singles, and Cox doubled to score Blair and make it 4-2. 

Bell then got two outs in the top of the sixth before Tyler entered and struck out the final batter. Tyler struck out the side in the top of the seventh, and Blalock got him one more insurance run in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run. 

From there, Tyler was in control. He picked up two flyouts and a strikeout in the eighth and struck out the first two batters of the ninth. Tyler then gave up an infield single, but he struck out the next batter to end the game and give the Senators the Championship.

Pantier, Fenton break program records

On Saturday, Fenton and Pantier continued to rewrite the Walters State record books. 

Fenton led off the bottom of the first in game one with a double, the 47th of his career, and broke the Walters State record for career doubles. That record was previously held by Ramon Osuna. 

Meanwhile, Pantier broke three more records. Pantier now has 109 hits on the season, breaking the single-season hits record of 105. Tyler Myatt and Alberto Osuna held that record. Pantier also broke Jerry Hammons' career hits record of 188, sitting now at 192 hits. 

Lastly, Pantier's three-run home run in game one gave him the Walters State single-season RBI record. Myatt set that record last year with 110, and Pantier now has 113 RBIs on the season. 

Up Next:

Walters State is back in action next Tuesday in the NJCAA Appalachian District Series. The Senators will travel to Georgia Highlands to take on the Chargers in a best two out of three series. The series winner clinches a spot in the 2026 NJCAA Juco World Series. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 1 pm ET.