Too young? Guess again.

In Rowan County baseball year one A.P. after Planck a lineup including five sophomores and a freshman held off West Carter 6-3 on Wednesday night for the Vikings first 16th Region championship since 1983.

Matthew Gagliano, part of the sophomore gang, pitched into the seventh inning for the victory.

Im just stunned, said Gagliano, who posted five no-hit innings while the Vikings built a 5-0 lead. At the beginning of the season, we werent even looked at as a contender.

Rowan County graduated star pitcher Cameron Planck, who was an 11th-round draft pick by the New York Mets.

But the Vikings young talent meshed with senior starers Harlan Carter, Peyton Fannin and Ethan Ratliff. Rowan County, a 25-game winner, rolled through the 61st District tournament and never trailed during its three-game region run at Larry Addington Field.

We are playing well, Rowan County coach Keith Prater said. Were seeing the ball at the plate, were making plays and the pitching has been really good. I couldnt be more proud of this team. To be honest, nobody gave them a chance after we lost Planck.

Sophomore Shane Taylor played a key role in the late innings. He doubled and scored in the Vikings three-run fifth and hit a sacrifice fly the next inning to make it 6-0.

Its the greatest feeling I've ever had in my life, Taylor said. I'm so happy right now.

West Carter (20-15) made the Vikings earn it. The Comets, playing in their first region title game, came alive with three hits in each of the final two innings to slice the lead in half. Dalton Brown, JT Johnson and Kaden Rose hit consecutive singles to produce the first run.

We have to give West Carter props, Prater said. They hit the crap out of the ball. Fortunately, several of them were right at us.

Gagliano exited with one out in the seventh inning to a round of applause from Rowan Countys fans. Fellow sophomore Cory Binion surrendered RBI singles to Albert Mercado and Dalton Brown allowing West Carter to bring the potential tying run to the plate with two aboard and two outs.

JT Johnson hit a sinking liner to left field that a diving Taylor plucked off the top of the grass.

I saw it hang up in the air a little bit and I knew I could get it, Taylor said. It was instinct for sure.

Said Binion: I love that dude, man. I love that dude. We've played baseball since we were 3 years old. We've been together all this time and I knew he was going to make that catch when I saw him dive for it.

The catch foiled the Comets latest final-inning comeback. The previous night, they scored four in the seventh to rally past Boyd County 9-8.

I'd take that swing 100 out of 100 times, West Carter coach Tim Johnson said. He hit it right on the button, on the barrel. The kid made a good play in left field. If you smoke a line drive into left field, that ain't nothing to hang your head at there.

Johnson praised his teams never-say-die attitude.

Hey, it's not over until the last out's made, he said. That's one thing I'll say about this team. All year long, we've lost some games by a large margin of runs, but we never quit in one game. When the last out's made, you see our guys in the dugout, Oh, I can't believe it's over. We think, as long as there's an out left, we got a chance. We played really hard tonight.

Rowan County players rushed to celebrate the last out by mobbing each other behind shortstop.

This is a dream, Binion said. I wanted to do this this year, next year and the next year. But this year, heck, everybody said we weren't gonna do it, but we did it.

Carter had another big game, going 2-for-3 with a double and used some smart baserunning to score the first run.

Oh my goodness, its fantastic, Carter said afterward. Our team has been 100 percent heart. We battled all year for this. Its surreal.

Carter hit a leadoff double in the third inning and later got trapped between third and home on Fannins one-hopper back to Rose. As soon as Rose threw to third, Carter quickly broke for the plate and slid in safely without a throw.

He didnt hesitate, Prater said. He made a commitment to go. It was a great play. Harlan became a complete player for us this year. Its been fun to watch.

Fannin also chipped in two hits and sophomore AJ Hacker scored twice and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly that West Carter dropped for a two-base error.

Rowan County advances to meet Third Region winner Muhlenberg County Thursday (1:30 p.m.) in the opening round of the State Tournament at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington.

Gagliano said he would have never guessed at the beginning of the season that he would be pitching in the region final.

Im glad they chose me, he said. Getting ahead in the count was big for me. Im just blown away right now.

WEST CARTER 000 001 2 3 6 3

ROWAN CO. 002 031 x 6 6 1

Rose, Thornsberry (6) and McGlone; Gagliano, Binion (7) and Fannin. WGagliano. LRose. 2BCarter (RC), Ratliff (RC), Taylor (RC).

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Comets make Vikings earn 16th Region baseball championship ... - Journal-Times