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By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting/Content Management 

Lynchburg-A nice June Saturday evening saw Liberty University play host to the 3A State championship game between Rustburg and William Monroe. Both teams were Regional runners-up, so both teams scored upset wins on Friday to reach this game. William Monroe sent junior lefty R. J. Payne to the mound and Rustburg went with senior Hunter Campbell.

In the top of the first, Payne had a one-out single up the middle, but otherwise Monroe was not able to get anything going. In the bottom of the first, Campbell reached on an error with one out. Catcher Daegan Phillips drew a walk to put two on. Carson Stanley singled to left, driving in the first run of the game and giving Rustburg a 1-0 lead after the first.

In the top of the second, Charlie Richards singled to lead the inning off and Cody Spencer drew a walk. After the runners were sacrificed down to second and third, Campbell was able to bear down and get a pair of strikeouts to end the threat. In the bottom of the second, Rustburg got hits from Austin Martin and Josh Campbell, but could not turn it into a run as Tyler Tuggle lined into a double play to end the inning.

Payne picked up his second hit of the game in the third, but again William Monroe couldn’t get anything else going. In the bottom of the third, Drew Calohan led off with a triple to deep right. After a strikeout, Phillips added a triple of his own, driving in Calohan and stretching the lead to 2-0. After a lineup, Warren Lamberth hit a ball to right that was missed, allowing a third Rustburg run to score, giving the Red Devils a 3-0 lead after three innings.

Campbell worked around a Cody Spencer double in the fourth to put up another goose egg. Payne answered with a perfect fourth. For velocities and scouting information on players in this game, check the Virginia/DC Scout Blog next week.

In the top of the fifth, Tyler Trevillian reached on error to open the inning and Anthony Pritchett dropped a bunt for a single, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Pritchett stole second and the throw down went into centerfield, allowing Trevillian to score and sending Pritchett to third with no outs. Payne hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive him in and cut the Rustburg lead to 3-2 in the middle of the fifth. Payne got a double play to end the bottom of the fifth with the score the same.

In the top of the sixth, Spencer mashed a double to deep right-center with one out and advanced down to third, but Campbell was able to get a line out to center to end the inning with the Rustburg lead intact. Payne worked around a two-out single to send the game to the seventh with Rustburg still clinging to its 3-2 lead.

With 9-1-2 due up, Campbell was able to get a pair of groundouts in front of the dangerous Payne. He was then able to get Payne to strike out swinging to end the game and clinch the 3A State Championship for Rustburg.

William Monroe
Anthony Pritchett 1-4, R
RJ Payne 1-2, RBI, BB
Dylan Shifflet 0-3
Hunter Forster 0-3
Charlie Richards 2-3, 2B
Cody Spencer 1-2, 2B, BB
Tim Eppard 0-2
Toby Colier 0-3
Tyler Trevillian 0-3, R 

RJ Payne 6 IP, 3 R, 8 H, 1 BB, 1 K


Rustburg
Drew Calohan 1-3, R, 3B
Hunter Campbell 0-3, R
Daegan Phillips 2-2, R, RBI, BB, 3B
Carson Stanley 2-3, RBI 
Warren Lamberth 0-3, RBI
Austin Martin 1-3
Austin Hall 0-3
Josh Campbell 2-3
Garvis Tuggle 0-3

Hunter Campbell 7 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 K