Trinity, MVP Grayson Willoughby go back-to-back in state baseball championship

Last year, Trinity needed two extra innings to win one of the best high school baseball championship games ever played. The Shamrocks got that time back in this year’s edition.

Trinity cruised to a 12-0 mercy-rule win in five innings over Boyd County in Saturday’s Baseball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare, earning the program’s second straight title and third title at Kentucky Proud Park.

Trinity became the first repeat baseball champion this century and the most recent since Harrison County (1997, 1998).

“The way we got started off kind of changed everything,” said Grayson Willoughby, Trinity’s starting pitcher. “I was already feeling pretty good … but once we put up those three or seven runs or however many we put up, we were locked in. We weren’t going to lose that.”

The road could not have been smoother for the Shamrocks compared to last year’s game, a 2-1 thriller against Louisville rival Pleasure Ridge Park decided on a two-out single by their nine-hole hitter.

Trinity (41-3) secured its 21st shutout of the year and sixth in the postseason. The Rocks, ranked No. 1 in MaxPreps’ national baseball rankings coming into the game, finished undefeated against Kentucky competition.

Trinity’s entire lineup saw the plate in the top of the first against Boyd County, conjuring a 3-0 lead before the Lions (29-8) picked up a bat. The Shamrocks outdid that effort in the second, scoring seven more runs in 12 at-bats.

They chased Boyd County ace Jace Manning (1.56 ERA) and top reliever Isaac Leeper before the second inning ended. Jared Nunley gave up a two-run single but finished the frame with a flyout. He kept Trinity at bay through the third inning before Alex Maynard followed suit in relief in the fourth.

The Shamrocks got to Maynard in the final frame, tagging on two more and ensuring a run-rule win.

“We’ve had that a couple times where we’ve misplayed balls in the infield or made some mistakes, and it can flip in a hurry,” Trinity coach Rick Arnold said. “What it says about this team is they really are just mentally tough.”

Boyd County nearly didn’t get a hit against the Shamrocks for the second straight tournament. Last season, the Lions fell in the state semifinals, 5-0, after a hitless effort versus Grayson Davis. Cameron May, hitting from the nine spot, got the Lions’ only hit Saturday, a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth inning.

“We didn’t have much for ’em that first inning,” Boyd County coach Frank Conley said. “We come out and can’t find the strike zone, walk a bunch of guys and hit guys. … They kind of bullied us a bit and beat us up early.”

Davis, who was 6-1 and among Trinity’s leaders in innings pitched this season, did not throw in the state tournament due to an arm injury. He contributed as a designated hitter throughout the tournament and was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a walk Saturday.

“It sucks, right, to go from pitching four games in the state tournament to not pitching at all,” said Davis, a junior and Trinity’s probable ace next season. “It affects the game plan, but to know that we have the depth where I can DH four games in a row and contribute, that was the most important thing. If I’d gone out and not done anything in four games at DH, I would’ve felt terrible. It’s a credit to the whole team and our approach. We’ve got so many animals.”

Max Phillips, also a junior and the Shamrocks’ leadoff hitter, was hit by a pitch in each of his first two at-bats, leading off the first and second innings. His second trip to the plate in the second inning ended with a two-out, two-RBI single into left field.

“It’s how I’ve grown up, I’ve always stood on the plate and got hit by pitches a lot,” Phillips said. “It helps. I’ll wear one for the team to help them.”

UK commit’s future

Willoughby, the starting pitcher in last year’s final, also scored the winning run in that contest. He started again Saturday, fanning seven without a walk. He did hit five batters.

“Probably not my best stuff today,” said Willoughby, grinning. “It’ll happen any game, any time. My ball kind of just runs in there. They’re a smart team, they got up on the plate and ate some, it’s part of it.”

Willoughby, who went 1 for 2 with an RBI and a walk, was named state-tournament MVP for the second year in a row. He’s committed to the University of Kentucky but is projected as an early-round selection in the Major League Baseball draft.

The draft is scheduled July 11-12. When asked if he’d ever pitch at Kentucky Proud Park again, Willoughby said “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it, that’s kind of been my line. I’ve been focused on this since day one.”

He was complimentary of UK’s facility (“I enjoyed myself out here.”) before detailing what his pre-draft routine will look like.

“I’ll probably take a week off or so, get back to my normal gym, eating kind of routine,” Willoughby said. “I’ll go out to the combine here in a few weeks, do that and then come back and stick to the TV on draft day and see where it goes from there.”

Notes

• The announced attendance was 2,202. That was more than last year’s final (1,760) and the 2024 edition. (1,952 fans watched PRP defeat McCracken County 4-1.) It fell short of the 2023 title game when Whitley County beat Shelby County 2-1 in front of 3,501 people.

• Davis’ no-hitter against Boyd County in 2025 remains the most recent in state-tournament history; it was the 14th all-time. Had Willoughby completed his, it would have been just the third in a championship game and the first since Stan Markham threw one in a 2-0 win over Fern Creek in the 1965 finals.

Baseball State All-Tournament Team

Trinity: Grayson Willoughby (MVP), Harper Haywood, Konnor Sturgill. Boyd County: Kaleb Kelly, Jace Manning, Grant Slater. Apollo: Ross Milburn, Gunnar Hendricks. McCracken County: Lucas Gagnon, Caden Kern. Beechwood: Sawyer Carlisle. Campbell County: Tyler Schumacher. Sayre: Gary Gibson. University Heights Academy: Cadence Gibson.

This story was originally published June 13, 2026 at 11:01 PM.