When the defending Class AAA state champion Harlem Bulldogs (28-1, 10-0) start their state title defense Tuesday, it will do so with a feather in their caps they didn’t have last year.
Harlem avenged its only loss from a season ago against Morgan County by beating the Bulldogs from Madison, 4-3 Tuesday and 6-3 Wednesday in a two-game series, to claim the Region 4-AAA title.
That decisive Wednesday win officially gave Harlem the region crown. A region championship was the only thing missing from Harlem’s state title run a year ago, which made this accomplishment even sweeter.
“It makes this one special,” said legendary Harlem coach Jimmie Lewis. “Last year hurt. They beat our tails, and this year we were just able to play a bit better.”
The battle of the Bulldogs got off to a quick start as Harlem’s Tyler Simmons drove the second pitch of the game over the right field wall for a solo homer that gave Harlem a 1-0 lead.
Two more runs came around in the inning for Harlem — one from a sacrifice fly and the other on a double by the starting pitcher Caiden Coile to help himself out.
Morgan County matched that with a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning to tie the game, and it was right back where it started.
Harlem scratched another across in the second on a single off the bat of Jackson Decker. They added two more in the third to take a 6-3 lead.
Those runs came on a double from catcher Steven Harshbarger and a single from Amerson Guy.
Fast forward to the fifth inning, and Harlem’s pitching went to work.
Morgan County loaded the bases and Guy came to the mound for Harlem. He slammed the door on any Morgan County comeback hopes by striking out Davis Strickland to get exit the inning.
Guy dominated the Morgan County hitters through the next two innings to give Harlem the huge victory.
It was the kind of complete team performance Lewis was hoping for, being that this was his team’s final regular season game.
Nationally ranked Harlem was sound in every facet of Wednesday’s contest, and Lewis knows that’s what it takes to win big games in high-pressure situations.
“My crowd played defense, pitching did what they had to do and we hit it like we had to hit it,” Lewis said. “I’m just really proud of them.”
Lewis also knows that going on the road to the hostile environment that is Morgan County with a championship on the line is no small feat.
“You come up here and get a win, you consider yourself very lucky,” Lewis said.
“Both teams will now turn the page to the playoffs, and they’ll both be at home for the first round. Harlem will have a bigger target on its back as the No. 20 team in the nation, according to maxpreps.com, looks to repeat as state champions.
When asked what it would take to win another state title, Lewis cited a mixture of divine intervention, solid play, and good, old-fashioned luck.
“We’ve got to be on God’s side, we’ve got to be lucky and get some help,” he said. “To win back-to-back, that’s pretty tough. These things don’t come easy, but we’ll take it one game at a time and do the best we can.”
Harlem’s title defense will begin in earnest on Tuesday April 23 as the Bulldogs will host Dougherty from. Time is soon to be determined.
