Chapin beats T.L. Hanna 4-3 to sweep AAAAA Division II baseball state championship series
Felix Flecha Ruiz hits two home runs as Eagles win first state crown in program history
Chapin -- Early in Dell Lever’s first season as Chapin High School baseball head coach, he jokingly referred to his team as “the master of 1-run games.”
Fittingly, the Eagles’ final game of the season was their 11th decided by one run. Holding a 4-3 lead at home on Thursday against T.L. Hanna in Game 2 of the AAAAA Division II state championship series, reliever Brewer Haggard allowed a leadoff single to Jackson Robinson.
It only took three pitches for Chapin to shut down the Yellow Jackets’ final threat. After starting a double play after fielding a Reece Oakley groundball, shortshop Caden Guy threw out Tatum Manning at first base for the final out.
“It’s kind of how it’s been all year,” said Lever, who became the first Chapin head coach to win a state baseball title. “It always came down to one run near the end whether we won or lost.
“But we really started preaching a month ago about moments. That’s kind of been our mantra up until this point is just moments. We never know what moments are going to make or break a game. So, if we can stay calm and just relax in said moment, more often than not, we’re going to be successful and then once we got into this playoff run, our mantra became “one more” – one more pitch, one more play and so forth. If we can just relax and play ‘one more, one more,’ we’re more likely than not going to have a positive ending on the scoreboard.”
Providing key “moments” at the plate for Chapin was Felix Flecha Ruiz. The senior outfielder homered twice in accounting for three runs batted in.
His first was a 2-run shot over the leftfield fence to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the first inning. He then belted a solo home run over the rightfield fence to put Chapin ahead 3-2 in the fourth inning.
“I went to bat, just taking a deep breath and doing what I do best, and that’s hit the ball and that’s all,” Ruiz said.
Luke Cromer added an RBI single in the same inning to put the Eagles up 4-2.
Oakley cut the lead to one run in the top of the fifth, and T.L. Hanna had two baserunners aboard with one out against starter Griff Harper.
Lever brought Haggard into the game in relief. He immediately got Phifer Glann to ground out to first baseman Kelvin Harris and struck out Caeser Ochoa to end the inning.
Haggard provided “one more” moment for Chapin by retiring the final three batters on just four pitches.
“(This is) emotional for me,” Ruiz said. “My last high school game. It’s the best feeling ever.”
This was the fourth state title won in eight years by a Region 4-AAAAA team. The previous champions were Dutch Fork (2019), River Bluff (2023) and Lexington (2024).
Ironically, Lever was previously an assistant coach with three Region 4 teams, the Silver Foxes, Wildcats and White Knoll.
T.L. Hanna was seeking its first state title in three appearances.
