HUMBOLDT — As his jubilant players celebrated a hard-fought victory, Crest High head baseball coach Roland Weir was secretly hoping they also had short memories.
See, Weir had made a promise to the Lancer squad earlier this season that if they won their regional tournament, he would let them shave his head.
They didn’t forget.
Crest brought home the Class 2-1A Regional Championship Wednesday after winning a 4-1 thriller over Southern Lyon County, thus sealing a trip to the state baseball playoffs starting next Thursday in Great Bend.
Crest (23-0) is the only undefeated team in the state, virtually assured of top seed in the eight-team bracket.
But first things first.
The team had barely gotten its plaque noting the championship when starting catcher Avery Blaufuss emerged from the dugout with a pair of hair clippers.
One-by-one, the Lancer players took turns mimicking Floyd the Barber, much to the delight of the boisterous fan base that converged upon the Humboldt Sports Complex. (Wednesday’s games were moved from Richmond to Humboldt because of rainy weather.)
But with that levity aside, Weir took time to reflect on a wondrous title game, filled with tense hitter-batter duels on both sides.
Crest starter Trevor Church — whom Weir will tell anyone, should be declared the Class 2-1A pitcher of the year — kept the potent Southern Lyon County offense at bay all night.
“It was a great game, terrific play by both teams,” Weir said. “Trevor pitched really well. He got in a couple of jams, and then got out of them like he usually does.”
The toughest came in the top of the fourth, after the first two Eagle batters reached base via a single and a walk. Landon Hammond followed with a double to drive to cut Crest’s lead to 3-1, and the tying runs in scoring position with nobody out.
Church — who has given up a total of four runs all season — single-handedly stopped the rally by striking out the next three batters in succession.
“I knew I had to man up and keep confident,” Church said, “and focus on the next batter.”
“We kept our composure, made plays when we needed to, and tacked on a couple of insurance runs,” Weir said.
The Lancers seized upon their first scoring opportunity out of the gate, when Church and Ryan Golden walked to lead off the first inning. A passed ball put runners on second and third for Holden Barker, whose sacrifice fly to center brought home Church. A passed ball moments later brought Golden home for a 2-0 lead.
But SLC kept things close from there, emerging unscathed after Crest put a pair of runners on base in the second. The third inning looked to be going the same way before Rogan Weir legged out an infield single to drive in Stetson Setter for a 3-0 advantage.
That same duo helped set up Crest’s fourth run in the fifth inning as well.
