Bo Rock leads Amory past Seminary in MHSAA 3A Baseball Championship

PEARL — Amory can party like it’s 1999.

Behind two big innings along with the pitching of Bo Rock the Panthers got past Seminary 11-1 in six innings to sweep the series and claim the MHSAA Baseball Class 3A State Championship at Trustmark Park on Saturday afternoon.

It’s the Panthers (30-5) third state title in school history and first state title since 1999.

“We didn’t press to begin the game started and when we got that first run, we kept hitting and putting pressure on them and it was a breath of fresh air,” said Amory coach Chris Pace. “We gave Bo a couple runs and we felt really good when Bo is on the mound and that’s special.”

Amory jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first as Rock helped himself out with an RBI single to right and Corbin Gillentine had a sacrifice fly.

The Panthers first big inning was the bottom of the second scoring five runs to extend their lead to 7-0 highlighted by a two-run double by Walker Marranto and an RBI double by Will McComb.

Seminary’s lone run came in the top of the fifth as Eli McNease hit a solo home run to right cut the Amory lead to 7-1.

In the bottom of the sixth Amory scored four runs on a wild pitch, a two-run single by Rock and Clayton Reese had the walk-off single to left to give the Panthers the 11-1 lead and the ten-run rule win.

“Yesterday we got going with the bats late in the game and it carried over to this game,” Pace said. “This means a lot to Amory, it’s a special place and there’s been hard times and we owe this championship to everyone that’s been a part of Amory baseball. The hardest thing now is to build off this and stay on top.”

Marranto had three hits to lead Amory offensively.

Rock (8-1) got the win on the mound tossing a complete six inning game allowing just two hits, one run, walked two and struck out three. He also had two hits at the plate and was named the series Most Valuable Player.

“Once we started hitting yesterday, we kept that rhythm going coming into today and we swung the bats well today,” Rock said. “I like to pitch fast and have tempo and getting ahead in the count, was able to do that the whole game. This is amazing we’ve done this for the whole town they haven’t a championship since 1999, so it’s a good feeling.”

Drake Williamson (5-4) took the loss on the mound for Seminary. The Bulldogs finish the season 23-15.

“Amory can swing the bats and they hit the ball really well,” said Seminary coach Clay Bush. “Our bats got cold these two games and we couldn’t get a hit when we got runners on. We got a bunch of young kids coming back, so we will build from this.”