For the four seniors on Lookout Valley’s baseball team, Friday evening’s high school graduation ceremony was only the second-biggest event of the day.
The Yellow Jackets traveled to last year’s Class 1A state champion, East Robertson, and won 13-7 to send their program to the TSAA Spring Fling for the first time since 2008. The sectional victory makes Lookout Valley one of eight qualifiers in the classification for next week’s state tournament.
“It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” Yellow Jackets coach Josh Payne said. “Baseball means a lot to this community, it always has, so this is pretty special for a lot of people.
“We had to rush right back after the game, pulled into the parking lot right before they started announcing the seniors’ names, and our kids walked across the stage still in full uniform. They loved it.”
The four seniors – Brayden Pruitt, Mason Randolph, Jacob Rollins and Braxton Ryan – all contributed to the win as Lookout Valley wasted no time in taking command, scoring four runs in the first inning and three in the second.