WILLIAMSBURG—The Corbin Redhounds have waited 13 years for a 13th Region championship title, and Wednesday night the Hounds were not going to let the game slip away.

“It’s huge for the program. They don’t realize what they’ve done yet… These kids don’t realize how hard this tournament is to win,” Corbin coach Cody Philpot said. “The 13th Region is great baseball and it takes some luck in a baseball tournament with single elimination like this. It takes a full team, and I’m just so proud of them and they get to experience this.”

Whitley County jumped to a 9-1 lead in the second inning, but Corbin used a six-run inning in the fourth to cut the deficit to one run.

“The first inning, there was no panic at all there. Then they come out and score some in the second, now that’s a big hole. You get down eight runs, that’s hard to come back from in baseball,” Philpot said.

“Down 9-1, it’s so easy to quit right there, and the guys never really panicked. They knew we were going to score some runs, and we started getting back in it. Pressure switched to them, and we kept going.”

From there, the Redhounds piled on unanswered runs to lead them to a 17-10 victory and the school’s third-ever region title.

“We had kind of a spurt there, we scored 6-7 runs in one inning,” Philpot said. “Then all the pressure was on them, and they had to hold us off. Once we got back, I think the guys were confident they were going to pull it off and win it.”

Whitley County started the game with a hit by Jonathan Watson. Kyle Edmisten then reached on error, and a walk for Caleb Rains loaded the bases. Jake Prewitt stepped to the plate and hit a grand slam on the first pitch for the Colonels to jump on a 4-0 lead. Clay Shelton then doubled, and Dylan Wilson singled to score courtesy runner Cole Brown for a 5-0 game in the top of the first.

Corbin’s Chase Estep led off with a home run on the first pitch to put the Redhounds on the board.

Whitley County found another four runs in the top of the second on Tyler Shelton’s single and Dylan Wilson’s three-run double for a 9-1 lead.

“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. To be down 9-1 and be able to fight back says a lot about their kids,” Whitley County coach Jeremy Shope said. “I am so proud of our guys. I am so proud of our program. Looking back on this fall, we would have some workouts, and I didn’t know if we could make it here. But as the season kept on going, I saw our guys keep improving and keep battling.”

Corbin held the Colonels to 1-2-3 in their next at-bat, then answered with one run on Cole Hicks’ single to start whittling away the deficit.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Redhounds scored six runs to close in on a one-run deficit. Corbin scored on two walks, an error and Cam Allen’s double.

The Hounds did not stop there as they held Whitley County to no hits until the final inning, and added nine more runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

“A lot of confidence in themselves, a lot of confidence in each other,” Philpot explained. “Great team top to bottom, and a lot of guys battling. You saw two guys out there tonight who has thrown a ton for us.

“Goose, he came in lights out and held them where they were to give us a chance to close out the game. Then Cam came in and closed the door.”

The sixth inning featured seven runs on Chase Estep’s single, Ben Phillips’ double, Cam Allen’s single and Matty Hart’s double for an eight-run lead.

The Colonels tried to get their bats moving again, and in the top of the seventh, Chase Harlan singled on a ground ball to bring Jake Prewitt in for the final run.

“As a coach you want to see improvement, and I told them we improved not only baseball-wise—which was unbelievable how much we improved baseball-wise—but we improved with maturity and how to handle failure and how to handle success,” Shope said. “Those are the things they can take with them.It’s so much more than a win and a loss. It’s life lessons. We live in a tough world, and you’ve got to be tough and you’ve got to keep battling because life is going to throw you change-ups and curveballs.”

Cam Allen led at the plate for Corbin, going 3-for-4 with four RBI and one run. Cole Hicks and Chase Estep each collected two of the Redhounds’ 12 hits, as well, while Matty Hart and Ben Phillips each recorded three RBI.

Christian Gosselin earned the win on the mound with four strikeouts, zero hits allowed, and one run allowed in his four innings of work.

Dylan Wilson led Whitley County in their nine hits with two and four RBI, while Jake Prewitt also racked up four RBI.

“It’s a special group of seniors, one I will never forget, my first group of seniors here,” Shope said. “It’s sometimes hard to get a new coach and a new style, and a crazy coach that likes to work extra hard, and they were all in from day one. That’s why we were able to have a successful season—it’s because we had three seniors totally in, and they made us better.”

Corbin enters the KHSAA Baseball State Tournament on June 7. The Redhounds play 14th Region champ Hazard at 1:30 p.m. at Whitaker Bank Park in Lexington.

“It’s huge. I don’t like to make this about me, but I got to experience this as a player and I’m just glad these guys do, too,” Philpot added. “The smiles on these faces right now… That’s why coaches do what they do.”