(WJHL) – Lebanon baseball is back in the winner’s circle in 2023, as the Pioneers rolled Auburn on Saturday afternoon, 7-0, to claim a VHSL Class 1 state championship.

Sophomore pitcher, Nathan Phillips, tossed a no-hitter on the biggest stage of the season, as the offense scored six runs in the first two innings to put the game out of reach.

“It’s great,” head coach Cody Compton said. “I mean, these kids, they’ve came out, they’ve worked hard since day one. I mean, we started back in last August. They’ve worked hard for me ever since and there wasn’t much I had to do this. It’s a great group of guys.”

“We knew they were going to be good,” Phillips said. “We knew they’re going to be a good team and we scouted really good. But we knew if we went out there, we played our game, we could go out and put up a lot of runs, which we left a lot of runners on. But I still believe that, you know, any day we go out there, we’ll win that game.”

“I wouldn’t want to do it with any other team,” senior Zach Hertig said. “I know I did it with my brother back when we with up here the first time, but this team had a family bond that rolled all the way through the season.”

The Pioneers claimed their second state championship in three seasons, finishing with a record of 26-2.

It was an all-Eagles affair in the VHSL Class 1 softball title, as Rye Cove challenged the three-time defending champions, Auburn.

Rye Cove’s Eden Muncy held her opponents off the board for six full innings, wracking up double-digit strikeouts. In the other dugout, James Madison commit, Kristen Fleet, was also dealing.

The game went scoreless into the seventh inning, until Avery Zuckerwar blooped a single into shallow left field, putting Auburn up 1-0. The run would prove to be the difference in the game, as Auburn hoisted the state championship trophy again in 2023.

“We got a lot of hard-working kids,” first-year Rye Cove head coach Nick Hood said. “You know, they just took on three-time defending state champion toe-to-toe for seven straight innings and got beat 1-0.”

“They don’t have anything to hold our heads about,” he continued. “They worked hard and they deserved everything they got. You know, it’s a real honor to be playing in the Virginia state championship game.”

The Lady Eagles finish a remarkable campaign with a record of 27-1.

In Class 2 girl’s soccer, Wise Central looked to end Clarke County’s unbeaten streak in the state championship match.

Despite some strong defensive plays from the Lady Warriors, the Lady Eagles pulled away late to win, 7-0.

It was a banner day in Blacksburg for a pair of far-Southwest Virginia girl’s tennis players. Abingdon senior Lauren Wimmer finishes her career as a Class 3 singles champion, winning 6-2, 5-7, 10-6 in a final-set tiebreak.

Marion sophomore Parker White also claimed a second-straight Class 2 singles championship, 7-5, 6-3.