The final out was a storybook ending to a historic season. With the tying run dashing toward home, Henderson County’s sophomore catcher Joel Booker snapped into action. A tag at the plate sealed the Kentucky State Championship.
In that chaotic instant 25 years ago, the Colonels etched their legacy into Kentucky high school baseball lore with a 1-0 victory over talented Louisville Ballard in the 2000 Kentucky High School Athletic Association baseball state final.
That dramatic ending capped a season built on quiet determination.
“Every year me and B.T. (Wayne) would talk about, ‘We think we have a chance of winning a state title with this group,’” said long-time assistant coach Mark Duckworth. “For some reason that year we never talked about it. Everybody put their nose on the grindstone, and we knew good things were going to happen.”
Members of the 2000 team reunited last weekend for a banquet at HCHS to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the state championship.
The players deeply respected Hall of Fame coach Wayne, who was in his 26th season as head coach. They wanted to get a state championship for him.
“We knew he had been in it so long and it had been close a few times,” Duckworth added. “But these guys really wanted to win it for him.”
Anchoring the squad was Seth Stanley, the USA Today Kentucky Player of the Year. He threw a shutout in the final, putting the icing on the cake of his 9-1 record for the season. Stanley later pitched at Southern Union State in Alabama and then advanced to the University of Kentucky to finish his career.
Brandon Scott was the other half of Henderson’s elite pitching duo. His performance in the Final Four against Nicholas County proved crucial. He went on to pitch at Wabash Valley College and then Eastern Kentucky University. Now, he is carrying his legacy as an elite hurler to the University of Kansas, where he is the pitching coach for the Jayhawks.
Behind the plate was Joel Booker, who caught for both stars, but praised the entire rotation.
“I had the luxury of getting to catch some excellent pitchers,” Booker said. “Seth and Scott are going to get touted as the best, but we had a phenomenal pitching staff across the board.”
At third base, Neil Sellers was a cornerstone. After high school, he became a four-year starter at Eastern Kentucky, where he was a third-team All-American his junior year. After a Hall of Fame career, he was drafted by the Houston Astros and worked his way to the Phillies’ AAA team in 2010 before retiring in 2011.
Dustin McGill secured the infield at shortstop before continuing his collegiate career at Lincoln Trail. And Casey Beals, known for his defense, held down first base.
“Casey Beals was a tremendous defensive first baseman. I mean, he saved so many bad throws,” said Duckworth.
Second baseman Aaron Hauser completed the infield at second. Notably, he is one of three players in Henderson County history to hit three home runs in a game. He went on to John A. Logan and then to Northern Alabama.
Center fielder Josh King had an All-Conference career at Wabash Valley. He did not commit a single error in four years for the Colonels. After Wabash, he received Division 1 opportunities but turned them down.
Rounding out the outfield was the steady presence of Dan Marshall in right field and the reliable pitcher Greg Gray in left field. Gray continued to pitch at Southern Union and then on to Murray State.
Zach Kanipe served as the designated hitter and delivered the championship’s biggest swing. He went 3-for-3 and batted in the game’s only run, earning Final Four MVP honors. He continued playing at Wabash Valley.
The Colonels’ reserves embodied the team’s depth and chemistry. Drew Mays, the backup catcher, remembered how close-knit and focused the team was.
“There were about 13–14 of us who hung out every night,” Mays said. “We always had our mind on getting past region and taking it one game at a time.” Mays signed to play for Southeastern Illinois College.
Other key substitutes included Alex Calhoun (Kentucky Wesleyan), Scott Nobles (Cumberland College), Kyle Forrester (STLCC–Forest Park), Andy Capps (Lindsey Wilson), and Beau Walker (Centre College).
Kevin Patton, long-time sportswriter for The Gleaner, said, “To be honest, the best athletes in the school all played baseball.”
Indeed they did, as 14 of the team’s 21 rostered players signed to play baseball collegiately.
More than talent, it was the brotherhood that defined the Colonels. Many of the former players raved about how much fun it was to be a part of that team. Their camaraderie off the field contributed to their success on it.
“That group of players spent a lot of time away from baseball hanging out as friends,” said Booker. “If we had two hours before a game, we’d just hang out at someone’s house and have fun. That closeness was really unique for a team.”
Kyle Forrester agrees. “We had an extremely close group,” he said. “We really held each other accountable because of those relationships, and we wanted to give each other our best. When you put that together with the talent and our coaching staff, we were capable of a postseason run.”
The sting of the 1999 region championship loss to Christian County still lingered, but by 2000, Henderson County fans sensed something different. Refusing to miss the moment, they contributed to a staggering 3,435 fans for the state semifinal, a state record at the time.
The Colonels’ final test came against a loaded Ballard squad featuring Kentucky Mr. Baseball Spencer Graeter, who would become a teammate of Seth Stanley at UK; Joshua Sowers, who pitched that day and later starred at Yale; and Jeremy Sowers, a future Vanderbilt ace and the sixth overall pick in the 2004 MLB Draft.
“The community wanted to be a part of the run,” said catcher Joel Booker. “There was a certain buzz around the team that was so genuine and heartfelt. That helps carry you through a season.”
Patton echoed the town’s pride after the final out. “The place went crazy. I think it was a sense of relief, because Coach BT Wayne had coached here for a long time. They wanted him to win a state title. That was kind of their goal.”
