North Marion shuts out Bishop Kenny, 4-0 for program’s first state baseball title

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WCJB) -It feels like the first time for the North Marion baseball team. The Colts capped off an outstanding postseason performance by blanking Bishop Kenny, 4-0 in Saturday’s Class 4A state title game in Fort Myers. North Marion (27-5) finishes the season with eight straight wins to claim the program’s first state crown.

Colts starter Karson Lindsey baffled Crusader batters all night long, striking out three in a complete game one-hit shutout on just 78 pitches. Lindsey’s clutch moment came in the third when Bishop Kenny had runners on first and second with one out. He picked up a strikeout for the second out, and then induced a ground ball to get out of the inning.

North Marion scored twice in the bottom of the third, one on a balk by Crusaders’ starter Garrett Corbett, and one on an RBI single by Jake Tompkins.

The Colts added to their lead in the fourth on an RBI single by Rowan Quartararo, who went 3-for-4. And then in the sixth, Cooper Jones drove in the game’s final run on an RBI double to the corner in right that scored Quartararo.

After surviving back to back one-run games in the state quarters and semis, the Colts blanked their title game opponent for the second time this season. North Marion also shut out Bishop Kenny, 2-0 back on March 3.

The title for the Colts came in their second trip to the title game in the last three seasons. It’s also just the second baseball state championship won by a Marion County program, after Trinity Catholic’s crown in 2014.

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