Great Crossing turns Henry Clay mistakes into remarkable 12-8 playoff upset

Great Crossing had a losing record and a four-game losing streak before the postseason began.

Two straight wins brought the 41st District title. Another set up a showdown with No. 23 Henry Clay on Wednesday in the 11th Region Baseball Tournament semifinals at Legends Field.

But after giving up three walks and a hit batsman around a single and a sacrifice fly in the first inning to cede an early 2-0 advantage to the Blue Devils, it appeared Great Crossing’s luck might have run out.

Then all of Henry Clay’s luck did.

Great Crossing took advantage for a stunning 12-8 victory to send the Warhawks to the regional final for the second time in four seasons.

“It’s tremendous. Everything that they’ve been through, and now with this group that’s just really bonded together and pulled together, and playing for each other in this dugout here,” Great Crossing coach Greg Stratton said about his team, which tragically lost teammate Case Allen Wilson in a fatal car accident during the first week of the season. His jersey hung above the Warhawks’ dugout. “The guys are bringing the energy, and we feel it. They feel it on the field every day.”

Henry Clay committed three of its five errors in the second inning, all on pop flies in and around the infield, to help give away seven runs to Great Crossing. In the middle of them, senior Tyler Mullanix swatted a two-run double to left field.

“I had two strikes, I was just thinking, put the ball in play, score everyone else on base, and do my job, do the little thing right,” Mullanix said.

The errors included a collision in the short left field on the first fly ball, a looper with runners on via a hit batsman and a double by Evan Duvall.

Henry Clay pitcher Brayden Brand recovered to get a strikeout, but walked the next two batters and committed the second error of the inning as he tried to field a pop fly on the right side of the infield. Mullanix’s double followed. Brand’s second pop foul drop let the seventh run in and ended his outing.

“We picked a bad day to play the worst we’ve played in the last month,” Henry Clay coach Jordan Tarrence said. “But I’m proud of them. That’s the best season Henry Clay’s had in almost 30 years.”

Henry Clay (29-11) started the year by earning the 300th victory of Tarrence’s coaching career. It culminated with the Blue Devils’ second 42nd District title in three seasons in a division that had four of its five teams in the PrepBaseballReport.com top 25 at various points.

Despite the disastrous second inning, Henry Clay did not stop battling. Great Crossing’s Stratton knew they wouldn’t.

“We told them that the game’s not over, there’s a long way to go,” Stratton said. “They’re not going to lie down, they’re going to come back, we got to keep scratching, we’re going to try to scratch a run in every inning that we can.”

Henry Clay helped Great Crossing again in the fourth inning as a pair of walks and a sacrifice bunt let Eli King cross the plate on a passed ball for an 8-2 lead.

Henry Clay finally answered with a three-run home run by Luke Jackson in the top of the fifth.

Eli Adkins led the sixth inning off with a triple for Great Crossing. Henry Clay notched two outs before Collier Curtis’ two-out single scored Adkins. Another Blue Devils error and a walk loaded the bases for Chase Little. Little’s shot to center cleared them with a triple for a 12-5 lead.

Henry Clay scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Collier Curtis came on in relief to record the final five outs, which included a spectacular diving catch by Colton Warren in left field to snuff the rally and strand two runners on base.

Great Crossing (17-15) will face No. 6 Sayre, another ranked 42nd District team, at 7 p.m. Thursday’s when the tournament moves to George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester.

11th Region Baseball Tournament

At George Rogers Clark High School, Winchester.

Thursday’s championship game

7 p.m.: Sayre (25-9) vs. Great Crossing (17-15).

This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 2:23 AM.