Spartans win Metro championship in baseball, advance to state playoffs

Published 8:39 am Monday, May 20, 2013

That was quite a bus ride home, no doubt.

The Bainbridge Spartans are headed to the state 3A baseball tournament after the team beat O’Dea 14-6 to win the Metro League championship.

It was the latest big win in a late-season comeback for the Spartans, who were 10-10 in the regular season.

Bainbridge lost to Lakeside 5-3 on April 30, but since then, it’s been nothing but W’s for the Spartans.

The team clobbered West Seattle 13-0 in the next game, then followed with a 8-2 win over Seattle Prep on May 8.

That victory avenged an 8-1 loss against the Panthers from the week before.

“We’ve turned it around a little bit,” Spartans Head Coach David Smart said humbly.

“The kids have done a really good job. I couldn’t be more excited for them,” he said.

“The credit goes to the kids. They really stepped up their game the last few days. I don’t feel that we’ve done a lot different as coaches.”

The win against O’Dea for the Metro title was much like that, he said, a continuation of the good all-around play the Spartans have enjoyed as of late.

While their starting pitching has been strong all season, the offense is really starting to come alive.

“We’ve been scoring a lot of runs and really swinging the bat well,” he said. “From top to bottom everybody has been swinging a good bat.”

The bus ride home with the Metro title secured was pretty special, Smart said.

“It’s not everyday you get to take a bus ride like that; everybody excited, everybody happy,” he said.