Olney Central College Claims Region Tourney Title

Olney Central College won the Region XXIV Tournament and will now head to District Tournament play.

The Olney Central Blue Knights have won the 2018 Region XXIV tournament and will be going on to the district tournament next weekend.  The three day tournament showcased some of the best baseball that the Knights have played all season.

On Friday they defeated SWIC 11-3 in a game that featured four Blue Knight home runs and a complete game from GRAC Co-Pitcher of the year Braden Scott.  Cameron Chapman, Ian Ellis, Lane Kirkland, and Damon Maynard all went deep for OCC.

Saturday in the second round the Knights beat Rend Lake 6-4 in a very competitive game.  Three more Blue Knights hit home runs and Jacob Tapp turned in a gutsy performance on the mound going 8.2 innings before Joey Drury came in to record the final out.  Nolan Young, Lane Kirkland, and Phillip Archer all went deep in game two.

In the championship game on Sunday the Blue Knights faced off with John A Logan.  OCC picked a great time to play what was probably their best game of the season as they won in a 12-1 run-rule shortened game.  Kevin Davis threw a complete game only giving up one run on a solo homer.  The Knights played excellent defense behind Davis as only one strikeout was recorded by the OCC pitcher.  The offense was clicking all afternoon as the Blue Knights scored in every inning of the game pounding out three more home runs by Aaron Beck, Cameron Chapman, and Evan Kahre.

Sophomore outfielder Cameron Chapman was named Region XXIV tournament MVP as he went 8 for 11 with 2 HR, 3 doubles, and 7 RBI's and 5 runs scored.

Area players on the team include John Grunloh (Teutopolis) and Trevor Markley (South Central).

OCC will travel up to Council Bluffs, Iowa for the District tournament where the winner will move on to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado.  OCC's first game this weekend will be on Friday against Iowa Western.