Congrats to Bob Jones on winning the 7A Baseball State Championship against Central Phoenix City! Bob Jones is loaded with talent, with 3 SEC commits, including Mississippi State, Alabama, and Tennessee, and commits to Montevallo and Bevill State. Bob Jones coach Jared Smith has a knack for developing talent, sending multiple players to the SEC in recent years. Smith is up there for one of the best high school coaches in Alabama, and we are lucky to have him here in North Alabama.
Game 1
Senior pitcher and Mississippi State commit Braden Booth led Bob Jones High School to a 6-1 victory over Central-Phenix City in the first game of the 2024 AHSAA Class 7A State Baseball Championship series with a complete-game two-hitter, seven strikeouts, and homerun. Leadoff hitter Jacob Pearl started the game with a single and scored on a double-play grounder, giving Bob Jones a 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Bob Jones capitalized on a Central error, with Tanner Hermesch doubling and Cam Martin singling to score Reece Cato. Myles Hammonds’ triple added another run, putting Bob Jones up 5-0. In the fourth inning, Hammonds scored again on a fielder’s choice. Central scored a lone run in the sixth inning when Emory Yohn tripled and scored on a fielder’s choice by Landon Beaver.
Game 2
Central-Phenix City High School secured a 6-3 victory over Bob Jones in Game 2 at Jacksonville State University’s Rudy Abbott Field, forcing a decisive Game 3. Bob Jones initially led Game 2 with a run in the first inning. However, Central (40-4) took control in the third inning, scoring three runs, highlighted by Landon Beaver’s two-run triple. Bob Jones (43-9) added a run in the third, but Central extended their lead with two runs in the sixth and another in the seventh. Bob Jones’ Braden Booth hit a solo homer in the seventh, concluding the scoring.
Game 3
Braden Booth hit his third home run of the Championship Series in the first inning of the decisive Game 3, extinguishing Central-Phenix City’s early momentum and leading the Patriots to a 12-5 victory and their first-ever state baseball title. Booth, who finished with two hits, two RBIs, two walks, and three runs, was named the Series MVP. Bob Jones, who had won Game 1 at Choccolocco Park, saw Central take an initial 2-0 lead in the first inning. However, Booth’s two-run homer tied the game, and Bob Jones added another run in the second inning before exploding with four runs in the fourth and five in the fifth to build a 12-3 lead. Bob Jones pitcher Jack Shaw pitched six innings, allowing seven hits and four runs (only one earned), striking out five for the win, while Adkins closed out the seventh.
