By Brian Moore

The Game

The 2009 Soper Red Bears beat the Verden Tigers 5-2 to win the Class A Oklahoma State baseball championship; an accomplishment no other team in Soper’s school history has done.
Pitcher Cody Linn’s command on the mound was evident the moment they took the field. While maybe they should have been nervous in a championship game, the Red Bears had total confidence in their ace.
Linn struck out the side in the first inning, two more in the second and another in the third. Linn would throw a complete game including five scoreless innings. “I wasn’t nervous, my arm was feeling good. I could’ve gone another 7(innings),” Linn said. “His curve was working, breaking well and he had good velocity on his fastball,” stated catcher Casey Boling.
The winning run was scored in the second inning. Hunter Burns hit a grounder to second base to drive Waylon Tucker home and put the Red Bears up 2-1. Next while Zane Gentry was up at bat, coach Carpino made a gutsy call that set the “sieze the opportunity” tone for the day. Carpino signaled Cade Scott to steal home and as he crossed home plate it put the Red Bears up 3-1.
In the bottom of the third inning, senior catcher Casey Boling put the game out of reach with a crushing two run home-run over the wall more than 375 feet from home plate. “That was a momentum changer for us. That was a shot,” said Linn. Coach Carpino chimed in, “A cushion. It’s always nice to have some breathing room.” “The pitch before he threw a curve so I figured he’d throw a fastball. I knew (it was gone) as soon as I hit it,” said Boling.
In the top of the sixth inning the Tigers were gearing up for a comeback. One batter beat the throw to first on a questionable “safe” call by the first base umpire. Cody threw a pitch right down the middle but it was called a ball by the home plate umpire. Before things got out of hand and the Red Bears might lose their cool, Carpino took a premptive approach and called for time. “I just went out there and told them to relax and let’s just get it done.” With a man on first and second, Soper left fielder Zach Gentry grabbed a grounder, that went between shortstop Burns and third baseman Chance Rabon, and quickly fired it home to keep the runner at third base. The next play was a grounder to Rabon who wisely stepped on third and threw the ball to Jarrod Self at first base to complete a double-play. Although a run scored in the process, Rabon put them one out away from ending this comeback attempt. That out would come when the very next batter hit a deep fly ball to center field that junior Zane Nelms caught.
The final inning was nerve racking for the Red Bears as they were just three outs away from their school’s first ever state championship. Linn said, “I just wanted to get done with it, get those three outs already.”  
A grounder to third base and a strikeout put the Red Bears one out away from their goal. It was their third straight time in the state playoffs and the previous two had left them without any hardware. There was one out left, to get that prized trophy. The next batter was walked and then they face Verden’s big bat Ty Mitchell who was already 2 for 3 on the afternoon. Mitchell hit Linn’s curve ball right back to him and he made an extra careful throw to first to end the game. Self said “I was a little worried with one runner on but, Cody pulled threw for us. I knew he would.”
The game featured two coaches at the opposite ends of their coaching careers. The Red Bears coach, Carpino, just finished his first season of coaching after taking over a team whose coach had quit on them. Carpino was a Red Bear player himself just five years ago. The opposing coach, Roy Edwards, has more than 1000 wins and retired after the game from his 32 seasons coaching. Going against a top coach on the biggest stage, Carpino came thru in a big way. The Red Bears have a very bright future with Carpino at the helm.
During the awards ceremony following the game, Soper Superintendent Olen Justice was given a plaque commemorating his 37 years of service.