Shortly after the Wallace Govs swept the Wallace-Selma Patriots 3-2 and 8-0 Thursday afternoon, the Govs got even more good news. Bishop State, the second place team, had lost one of their games. That means the Govs are Southern Division Champions for 2023—or at least have clinched a share of the title.

                There is still a slim mathematical possibility that the Govs would have to share the title with Bishop, but that would involve several scenarios and go down to the fourth of fifth tiebreaker. Still, the Govs would be co-champions but Bishop would get the #1 seed in the state tournament.

                "We did what we needed to do," Wallace coach Ryan Ihle said. "We took care of business at home. It all started with pitching. We didn't have a great offensive day, but I couldn't ask for more from Kade (Snell) and Brooks (Byers) .
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                Now all the Govs need to do is win one of their two remaining games against Wallace-Selma on Saturday and they won't have to worry about sharing the title with anyone.

                Two outstanding pitching performances and stellar defense shocked the Patriots who may now be on the outside looking in when it comes to the state tournament. Snell got the job done in game one. Then in game two, Brooks Byers was even more effective. Byers only need 64 pitches to toss a complete game shutout.

                In game one, Snell had to gut it out. That's because as he said, "Early on I knew I didn't have my best stuff. But I knew what I had behind me (a good defense) and that always gives me confidence."

                Snell had enough of his good stuff to only give up two hits to the Patriots. That and a stellar Wallace defense led to 3-2 Gov victory in this crucial conference matchup.

                "This was my last home game pitching here at Wallace and the guys came through for me," Snell said. "This wasn't about me. It was about the team This was a team win."

                Snell went on to point out several good plays that helped hold the Patriots to just two hits.

                In this tightly contested game, the Govs got on the scoreboard first. That happened in the second inning when Brody Capps blasted a solo home run over the left field fence.

                The only runs Snell gave up came in the third inning. Both were unearned because of a throwing error on Snell himself.

                But the Govs got the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the fifth. After Corey Berry walked to lead off the inning, Carlos Vasquez smacked an RBI triple to right field. Two batters later, Vasquez scored on sacrifice fly by Warrick Wilmot.

                As good as Snell's performance was in game one, Byers one-upped him in game two. In five of his seven innings pitched, Byers sat the Patriots down in order. He only gave up three hits and two of them were in the final inning after the game was already decided,

                "I knew they were a contact hitting type team," Byers said. "So I didn't waste time. I threw strikes because I knew the defense I had behind me."

                Most of the scoring didn't happen until late, but on this day Byers also had a good offense to support him.

                The scoring got started in the first inning when Wilmot hit an RBI single to left field. Wilmot finished the game going three-for-three with a double, two singles, a walk and two RBIs.

                Wilmot also provided the scoring in the third inning when his RBI single plated Vasquez who had earlier singled.

                The Govs broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth by scoring six runs. After Wilmot let of with a double and Capps reached on an error, Ellis Yohn hit a two-RBI single, Corey Berry got an RBI single, Sean Darnell hit an RBI groundout, Vasquez hit an RBI double, and Snell had an RBI double.

                The Govs are now 24-8 in division play. The regular season will come to an end Saturday in Selma. The Govs will begin play in the state tournament on Thursday.