By ANTHONY STEVENS, anthony@virginiamediainc.com
SALEM, Va., (June 13, 2026) – Three state baseball championships in six years! The Pioneers are bringing home more ‘Gold’. On a scorching Saturday afternoon at Kiwanis Park, Lebanon defeated Patrick County 5-2 to win the 2026 Class 2 state championship, adding to the trophies earned in 2021 and 2023.
After a slow start this season, the Pioneers shocked everyone by winning their final 15 games.
“This is huge. It was a lot of fun,” said Lebanon coach Cody Compton, who has led the Pioneers to their last two titles. “I’m in a chat group. They told me to set realistic goals when I showed them mine. I told them they were realistic, and we just proved that today.”
Getting to the top requires shooting for it. Did Compton anticipate the Pioneers would be in this position back in March?
“I knew we had the potential to be here. I kept telling them we had a state-championship-caliber team,” commented Compton. “We had to figure a lot of things out. I had kids who were trying to do too much early on. We settled into our roles, and the guys did a great job.”
Jake Hilton led off the game with a walk for Lebanon. Brady Cole moved him to third with a single to right. Hilton scored on an RBI groundout by Luke Garrett for a 1-0 advantage.
Lake Baldwin, who dominated Dan River in the quarterfinals, started on the bump but struggled in the first inning against Patrick County.
Erik Martinez singled for the Cougars, while Christian Hylton reached on a fielder’s choice. Jaiden Wilson was hit by a pitch. Zach Holt drove in two runs with a double down the left-field line as Dan River took a 2-1 lead after one.
Lebanon (21-8) answered in the fourth. Garrett walked. He stole second with Cannon Barton at the plate, but the umpire ruled that Barton interfered and called him out, moving Garrett back to first.
Parker Cole then walked. After a flyout, Dawson Rasnake drove in Garrett with an infield single to tie the game. Ethan Horne followed with another clutch two-out hit, allowing courtesy runner Sam Crabtree to score the go-ahead run for the Pioneers when the shortstop threw the ball away, giving the Pioneers a 3-2 advantage.
“I was just trying to get the bat to the ball,” remarked Horne. “I had a homer yesterday, but I didn’t want to keep the same mindset of trying to do that again, because then you end up rolling over the ball. I knew that if I handed it to the next man, my team would pick it up, and that’s what they did.”
In the fifth, Lebanon added to its lead. Brady Cole continued his hot streak with a double. After a groundout, Garrett reached on an error, allowing Cole to score. Garrett stole second and advanced to third when the catcher threw the ball into centerfield. He scored on a wild pitch, putting the Pioneers up 5-2.
Baldwin settled in and delivered another outstanding performance, keeping the Cougars scoreless after the first inning. He ran into trouble in the sixth, allowing three straight singles that loaded the bases with no one out. Isaac Godsey was called to the mound.
Amazingly, Godsey induced a pop-up to the catcher and second base, then picked up a strikeout to get out of the inning without a run scoring.
“I just knew I had a job to do and I had to come in and do it,” Godsey stated. “The fastball was working fine. I just stuck with it and tried to locate it. You have to shoot for the best. I was going for not allowing a run.”
Godsey retired three straight batters in the seventh to notch his first save of the season, as Baldwin got his sixth win.
“Lake has been huge all season,” declared Compton. “We all struggled early, but as the season went along, all the pitchers figured it out and started throwing strikes. Cannon (Barton) didn’t get his first start until the end of April. (Isaac) Godsey comes in today and gets out of it without allowing a run. It’s the whole team. They played together. Everyone contributed to this ride.”
A large contingent of Pioneer faithful made the trek to Billy Sample Field and celebrated the outcome.
“This is awesome. If you had asked anyone at the beginning of the season if we would be here, I’m pretty sure everyone would have said no,” Horne said. “We came together as a team, put in the work, and it shows. We faced hardships we had to fight through, pushed through them, and got here.”
Lebanon 5, Patrick Co. 2
Lebanon 100 220 0—5 6 2
Patrick Co. 200 000 0—2 6 3
Baldwin, Godsey (6) and P. Cole. Hylton, Terry (5) and Martinez. W—Baldwin (6-2). L—Hylton. S—Godsey (1). HR—none.
