The Ocoee Middle School baseball team has advanced to the state tournament.
photo by Contributed
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Three years ago, the Ocoee Middle School Colts baseball team made it to the sectional final game in the first year of the creation of the middle school state championship.
In year three, the Colts took it a step further as they will be headed to Middle Tennessee with a chance to bring a state championship trophy back to OMS.
First time Ocoee Middle has made it to the state tournament
“We've gotten to where we need to be,” said head coach Jon Wilson, who's Colts played to a 15-4 record over the course of the season on their way to a region title.
The Area 4 region includes Lake Forest, Cleveland and McMinn along with some Chattanooga area teams.
“They started off a little slow, but gradually they figured things out,” Wilson said. “The last month, month and a half they've been playing really well.”
The Colts are made up of a total of 16 players including a pair of sixth graders playing up along with three seventh graders. The team also carries a complement of 11 eighth-grade Colts.
The Colts began their journey as overall district champions which allowed them to host the postseason tournament. OMS defeated Cleveland Middle in the first round of the region then earned a win over East Hamilton (11-5) before moving on to sectional play against teams from Bristol, Lenoir City and North Middle.
“We beat them 17-3,so the pitching plan worked out really well,” said Wilson.
Wilson credits his staff for the team's success.
“We've been around together for seven years and now I have a former player on staff who has helped out tremendously,” Wilson said of assistant coach Ethan Lambert. “He was He was with us in his eighth-grade year,” Wilson said. Jacob Mason and Jonathan Mosley are also my assistants. They are a large part of the success.
The Colts then facd off against Tennessee Middle (Bristol) and picked up a 7-1 win to earn a berth in the state tournament.
The Colts travel to Hendersonville Friday to open the tournament at Drake Park against Woodland Middle from the Brentwood area. The semifinal first pitch is scheduled for 8:30 p.m., EST.
A win sets OMS up for a 5 p.m., game Saturday.
“It appears to be a turf complex and we have a turf field we practice on every day,” Wilson explained. “I think we are definitely going to be prepared infield-wise.
“The guys are real excited. They have been playing really well. It's been an honor to coach them and seeing their progression over time. I had a lot of them play up last year, so they have a little bit of experience. We put the challenge out and they accepted it,” said the Colts head wrangler.