State baseball: Gibson homers twice to help power Sayre win over Johnson Central
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- Gary Gibson hit two home runs to lift Sayre to a 13-4 win over Johnson Central.
- Camden "Chip" Stout pitched 2 2/3 innings and earned the win for Sayre.
- Sayre will face No. 3 McCracken County at 10 a.m. Saturday in quarterfinals.
Gary Gibson homered twice to help power Sayre to a come-from-behind 13-4 win over Johnson Central Thursday in the first round of the State Baseball Tournament presented by UK HealthCare at Legends Field.
Gibson’s three-run blast deep to left-center in the bottom of the fourth inning came amid a nine-run barrage that surged Sayre in front after Johnson Central briefly threatened an upset of PrepBaseballReport.com No. 6 team. Gibson’s solo shot to left field an inning earlier marked the Spartans’ only hit to that point and a brief 1-0 lead.
“I saw a fastball down, and I got a hold of it,” Gibson said. “To be honest, when I first hit it, I didn’t really know where it was going, but after it got up in the air, I knew I got all of it.
Early on, the Golden Eagles (32-9) looked primed to avenge their 11-0 loss to the Spartans on May 9, and shake up the tournament. Johnson Central starter Alex Marcum escaped unscathed after a hit-batsman and a walk in the first inning and didn’t allow a Sayre hit until Gibson’s solo shot with two outs in the third.
Johnson Central’s Collin Cantrell led off the top of the fourth with a double. A bunt single by Mason Mackenzie and a walk set up Kaden Literall’s RBI single through the hole at short to tie it. That ended Sayre starter Elliot Jansky’s day on the mound.
Kaleb Callaham, Braxton Perry and Kyler Callaham each got RBIs off reliever Sayre Camden “Chip” Stout via sacrifice fly, single and ground-rule double, respectively.
Stout, normally the Spartans closer, pitched 2 2/3 innings for the win, allowing four hits in relief of Jansky. Sayre coach Kevin Clary said Stout’s damage control in the fourth inning was critical.
“He had bases loaded, no outs,” Clary said. “He kept us in the game and gave us a chance.”.
Having rallied from deficits in both the 11th Region semifinals and finals, The Spartans didn’t flinch.
“We’re going to fight for 21 outs and play it pitch by pitch,” Clary said of his team’s resilience. “We’re going to give it all we have at all times.”
Banks Heinrich and Joaquin Acevedo singled around a Tripp Winton strikeout to start the Sayre’s half of the fourth. Will Johnson got hit by a pitch to load the bases.
After Johnson Central lifted starter Kaleb Callaham for Alex Marcum, pinch-hitter Blake Lambert, a freshman, smashed a two-run double past the Golden Eagles’ diving third baseman to cut Sayre’s deficit to 4-3.
“That was huge. He made me look smart because I pinch hit him there,” said Clary, who hit Lambert in the place of Stout so his reliever could continue warming up in the bullpen. “(Lambert) did a great job. The moment wasn’t too big for him.”
A wild pitch allowed Johnson to score for a 4-4 tie. Grady Lamonica then walked to put runners at first and third for Gibson, who got behind 0-2 in the count before taking a 2-2 pitch over the fence.
“I wanted to stay focused, stay calm, cool and collected and then just drive the pitch I want to see,” Gibson said. “I got it.”
Gibson’s power numbers have declined a bit since a breakout sophomore year in which he launched 18 home runs. He had 11 last year. Thursday’s were his eighth and ninth of 2026.
“That’s because nobody pitches to him,” Clary said. “He stepped up like a senior should. … He’s an all-American.”
The Spartans eventually batted around in the fourth. Heinrich and Acevedo singled ahead of Winton, who made up for his earlier strikeout with a two-run double to put the Spartans up 10-4. Sayre tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning and another in the sixth to set the final margin.
Sayre (27-9) next faces No. 3 McCracken County from the 1st Region at 10 a.m. Saturday to start the quarterfinals.
Thursday’s other games
Boyd County 5, South Oldham 1: The Lions (27-7) got RBI singles from Kaleb Kelley in the second inning and Davis Conner in the fourth inning as part of rallies in each frame Jace Manning struck out eight Dragons before giving way to Isaac Leeper to lock down the last two outs of the game.
The trouble for South Oldham (27-9) began in the second began with walks to Boyd’s Brody Biggs and Jace Manning sandwiched around Jace Manning getting hit by a pitch. Kelley’s single brought in Biggs. Cameron May’s groundout and Grant Slater’s sacrifice fly scored Kelley and Leeper, respectively, to put the Lions up 3-0.
In the fourth, a walk, an error and a pair of fielder’s choices set up a sacrifice fly by Boyd’s Alex Maynard and a two-out RBI single by May for a 5-0 lead. The Dragons scored their lone run on Joseph Closurdo’s two-out RBI single in the seventh inning.
McCracken County 6, Bowling Green 0: The Mustangs (32-8) got seven strong innings from Caden Kern on the mound and a timely bat from him as leadoff man at the plate.
Kern scattered three hits and two walks in the shut out and delivered a two-run double in the three-run sixth inning to help secure the victory. Brody Thompson’s two-run single in the second inning staked the 1st Region champs to the lead after a leadoff hit by William Fox and a double by Briar Hall. Fox added an RBI single in the third inning.
Bowling Green (34-6) got four runners on, but two were caught stealing second by McCracken catcher Kendrick Dunning.
University Heights 9, Wolfe County 1: The Wolves (24-11) got a leadoff triple by Chance Fallen followed by Camden Oliver’s RBI single for a 1-0 lead in their first at-bat, but the Blazers (30-8) answered immediately with three runs in the top of the second and rolled from there.
Jackson Flynn and Aiden Jones each had a pair of hits for University Heights with Jackson scoring twice and Jones with a run and an RBI. Ty Grace added a hit, two RBI and three runs scored. Blazers pitcher Jaiden Miles allowed just four more hits and struck out six in five innings for the win. Thomas Hallmark allowed a hit in two shutout innings to finish the game.
State High School Baseball Tournament
What: Baseball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare
Where: Legends Field (this week) and Kentucky Proud Park (semis and final).
Tickets: via GoFan.
Streaming: KHSAA.tv.
Thursday’s first-round games
Sayre 12, Johnson Central 4.
McCracken County 6, Bowling Green 0.
Boyd County 5, South Oldham 1.
University Heights 9, Wolfe County 1.
Friday’s first-round games
10 a.m.: Campbell County (24-13) vs. LaRue County (30-8).
1:30 p.m.: Apollo (21-12) vs. Whitley County (38-3).
5 p.m.: Trinity (37-3) vs. Bullitt East (24-11).
8:30 p.m.: West Jessamine (20-19) vs. Beechwood (32-9).
Saturday’s quarterfinals
10 a.m.: McCracken County vs. Sayre.
1:30 p.m.: Boyd County vs. University Heights.
