CORBIN – Warren County South’s 10- and 11-year-old Little League All-Stars simply would not be denied on Wednesday in the state championship at Corbin Rotary Park.

After rollling through pool play by outscoring opponents 47-7 in three games and then turning back tournament host Corbin in the semifinals, Warren County South completed its dominant showing with a 6-0 victory over Fleming County in the title game to take home the state championship banner.

“This team is unbelievable,” Warren County South manager Joey Talley said. “They are a group of special kids. They love each other. They’re great baseball players, but more importantly they work hard – very good at what they do, and when bonded together very quickly it was very fun to be a part of.”

Warren County South, which had crushed Fleming County 22-0 in pool play on Sunday, had every reason to feel confident heading into the rematch with ace Connor Cobb on the mound.

Cobb didn’t disappoint, tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts before giving way to Andrew Goley to finish it out. Goley did his job, preserving the shutout to hand Warren County South the victory.

“We came into this championship game with two aces with 85 pitches, so I was pretty confident we had enough arms to get through,” Talley said. “I was very confident we had enough pitching, and they did not disappoint.”

Warren County South wasted no time in giving Cobb a comfortable cushion. In the bottom of the first inning, Talley’s squad plated four runs to grab the early lead. Charlie Owsley led off with a double, then scored one out later on an RBI groundout by Zack Davis.

Bryce Button then drew a walk and Ethan Reynolds reached on an error to put runners at the corners. Andrew Coffey drew another walk and Button scored on a passed ball to put his team up 2-0.

Andrew Milam then smoked a ball up the middle for a double to drive in another run, and a Goley comebacker to the pitcher was misplayed for another error that allowed Reynolds to score before Milam was thrown out at the plate to end the rally.

Cobb helped his own cause with a two-out double in the bottom of the second, then scored when Davis sent a high fly ball to center field that fell between three Fleming County outfielders.

On the mound, Cobb was sailing through the Fleming County lineup despite the pressure of pitching in a state championship game.

“Everything, I just had all my pitches working and I was in the groove,” Cobb said.

In the top of the fifth, Fleming County showed signs of life at the plate when Seth Hickerson struck out but reached when strike three got past the catcher and Brady Faris followed by working just the second walk off Cobb.

That prompted Talley to bring in Goley for some relief work.

“We jumped out on them quick, which is very important in a game, very important,” Talley said. “Connor was very dominant early. He got tired late and we had to get him out, and Goley came in and finished the deal.”

Goley struck out Taylor Mattox for the second out of the inning, then gave up a walk to Fleming County pitcher Nate Ruark to load the bases before getting Sadie Price on a pop out to third to end the threat.

Warren County South added one more run for good measure in the bottom of the fifth. Davis ripped a one-out triple to right and Button followed with an RBI double to center to put his team up 6-0.

Needing three more outs, Goley surrendered a leadoff single to Keaton Donahue to open the sixth and then walked Preston Cropper to put two runners on before starting a huge double play on a comebacker from Cole Horch. Goley closed it out one batter later by inducing a game-ending groundout.

“I’ve been coaching a long time,” Talley said. “I was fortunate enough to coach some very good American Legion teams, but this is first one as a head coach. It’s very special.

“They play a lot together during the season. A lot of them are on the same travel team – two different travel teams – so they know each other. I don’t have to teach a whole lot of baseball. I just get them to get along, put them in the right spot. They just go out there and do it.”{&end}