It took more almost six hours and 15 innings but Red Bank finally secured its third straight District 6-AA baseball championship.
Central’s Purple Pounders, who had previously bounced top seed East Hamilton from the tournament, forced a two-game final by scoring four runs in the top of the seventh for an 11-7 victory.
Red Bank returned the favor in Game 2, falling behind, taking the lead and the exploding for 10 runs in the top of the seventh on its way to a 14-7, title-clinching victory.
“Those are the craziest two games I have been a part of,” Red Bank coach Trey Hicks said. “I still have no idea what happened [in the top of the seventh].”
The Lions entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed behind East Hamilton and Central and on a 14-game losing streak. Now they will be home on Monday to host a Region 3 semifinal against either Polk County or Sequoyah. Central will travel Monday to face one of those two.