“He’s out!”

These were the final two words of the 2022 Southwest Preparatory Conference championship game between Kinkaid and Episcopal High School. 

Freshman Cooper Chambers moved to his left on a slow hit ground ball and made the throw to first base to secure Kinkaid’s 10th SPC Baseball Championship and second in the last four years.

The Falcon baseball team finished the 2022 regular season with a record of 25-10-1 and came out of SPC regular season play undefeated, securing the No. 1 seed in the SPC tournament. 

Kinkaid beat rival St. John’s during the regular season with an 11-0 run rule. Against John Cooper, senior pitcher Carter Kelsey threw a no-hitter, the first since Stone Simmons in 2019 against Huffman. 

The day following the John Cooper game, Kinkaid took on Episcopal and won the game by a score of 7-5. The Falcons slugged four homeruns in the regular season SPC contest.

The Falcons were prepared to face Cistercian High School on April 29. They won 4-0, earning a spot in the semi-finals that evening against St. John’s. The Falcons won the game 5-1 thanks to senior pitcher Connor Doan. 

The Falcons took on the Episcopal Knights for the state championship on April 30. After the first inning, they trailed 2-0 but after tying it up in the second inning, the game became a pitchers’ duel. Senior Rashaad James stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning and hammered a fastball just inside the left field foul line for a solo shot, giving the Falcons a 3-2 lead. 

The Falcons cemented their lead later that inning on a two-run run batted in double by senior Charlie Kugle. In the top of the seventh, sophomore Miles Roeder only needed to face four batters in order to secure the 2022 SPC Baseball Championship for Kinkaid.

“Winning the championship gave me an amazing feeling of happiness,” sophomore Richie Klosek said.

Harrison Lawrence had little trouble choosing a word to represent his experience at SPC.

“In just one word, it was exhilarating,” he said.

 With the season now coming to an end, Kinkaid will begin its preparations for 2023 with the goal of winning back-to-back state championships.