Top Dog: Union Captures the Baseball Tournament Championship

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – It was a fight to the finish, but in the end, Union collected the 2023 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Baseball Tournament championship, defeating Bryan 12-7 in the finale.

The tournament crown is the Bulldogs' first since 2006.

The fifth-seeded team, Union went undefeated on the week and outscored its opponent 39-11 in four games.

Prior to the title game, No. 3 seed Bryan had to rally from an early deficit to beat No. 2 seed Reinhardt 8-6 to advance to the championship game.

By virtue of making the championship game, both Union and Bryan receive an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round. The pairings will be announced on Thursday, May, 11.

POD B FINAL - BRYAN 8, REINHARDT 6

Reinhardt grabbed the early lead with four runs in the first, but Bryan rallied to take a 6-4 lead in the second.

In the third, Will Underwood lofted a sac fly to score Nash Crowell, pulling Reinhardt within 6-5. Reinhardt evened the score at 6-all in the sixth thanks to a Jamel Rookard RBI double.

Bryan, though, came back with a two-out rally in the eighth as Lofton roped a two-run double to the wall in right-center field to give the Lions an 8-6 lead.

AAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – UNION 12, BRYAN 7

The teams traded one-run leads early on before Union began to pull away. Hazel Martinez singled in a run to start a three-run rally in the fifth. Then, in the sixth, the Bulldogs exploded for six runs to open up an 11-2 lead. Angel Mendoza started it off with a two-run home run, and Nick Seelman added a two-run single as the lead grew.

After Union upped the margin to 12-2, Bryan scored twice in the seventh and then tacked on three in the eighth thanks to a Daniel Dryden three-run blast.

But that was as close as the Lions could get as the Bulldogs won 12-7 to lock up the title.

 TOURNAMENT MVP

• Hazel Martinez, Union

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

• Logan Romasanta, Union
• Luke Powell, Union
• Ethan Warren, Union
• James Raffauf, Union
• Bryson Lofton, Bryan
• Parker Cosby, Bryan
• Jakob Hamilton, Bryan
• Ethan Walls, Bryan
• Nash Crowell, Reinhardt
• Will Underwood, Reinhardt
• Marco Martinez, Tennessee Wesleyan
• Jake Sergent, Tennessee Wesleyan
• Daniel Willie, Montreat

Tournament Schedule
Tuesday, May 2
Game 1 - No. 10 Columbia International (19-27) def. No. 7 Point (22-22-1), 3-2 (box) Point eliminated
Game 2 - No. 9 Milligan (28-20) def. No. 8 St. Andrews (20-23), 15-1 (box) St. Andrews eliminated

Wednesday, May 3
Game 3 - No. 5 Union (27-17-1) def. No. 4 Truett McConnell (33-15), 10-4 (box)
Game 4 - No. 6 Montreat (27-22) def. No. 3 Bryan (31-18), 6-0 (box)
Game 5 - No. 2 Reinhardt (32-16) def. No. 10 Columbia International (19-28), 6-4 (box)
Game 6 - No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan (41-7) def. No. 9 Milligan (28-21), 14-4 (box)

Thursday, May 4
Game 7 - No. 3 Bryan (32-18) def. No. 10 Columbia International (19-29), 8-1 (box) Columbia International eliminated
Game 8 - No. 4 Truett McConnell (34-15) def. No. 9 Milligan (28-22), 6-3 (box) Milligan eliminated
Game 9 - No. 2 Reinhardt (33-16) def. No. 6 Montreat (27-23), 20-4 (box)
Game 10 - No. 5 Union (28-17-1) def. No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan (41-8), 12-2 (box)

Friday, May 5
Game 11 - No. 3 Bryan (33-18) def. No. 6 Montreat (27-24), 5-4 (box) Montreat eliminated
Game 12 - No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan (42-8) def. No. 4 Truett McConnell (34-15), 9-3 (box) Truett McConnell eliminated
Game 13 - No. 2 Reinhardt (33-17) vs. No. 3 Bryan (34-18), 2-1 (box)
Game 14 - No. 5 Union (29-17-1) def. No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan (42-9), 5-2 (box) Tennessee Wesleyan eliminated

Saturday, May 6
Game 15 - No. 3 Bryan (35-18) def. No. 2 Reinhardt (33-18), 8-6 (box) Reinhardt eliminated
Game 16 - No. 5 Union (30-17-1) def. No. 3 Bryan (35-19), 12-7 (box) Union wins the championship