BURTON BASEBALL WINS SECOND STATE TITLE IN SCHOOL HISTORY

The Burton Panther Baseball Team did it! The Panthers are the 2026 Class 2A Division II State Champions after a 6-1 victory over the Ropes Eagles in the title game.

For the Panthers, it is the second state baseball championship in school history, and the first since 1987.

Tyler Witt got the start and went the distance to get the win. He pitched seven innings, allowing five hits, one earned run, one walk, and struck out six, while throwing only 77 pitches. Witt was also 2 for 4 at the plate with a single, a triple, and two runs scored. The performance earned him the Championship Game MVP.

The scoring got started when Witt led off the bottom of the first with a triple, Logun Tosta got hit by a pitch, and Braydon Martin walked to load the bases. Rueben Rodriguez followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Witt with the first run of the ballgame.

The Eagles came back to tie the game at 1-1 with a run in the top of the fourth inning.

Burton came back to tie it in the bottom of the fourth. Ryder Biggs singled, stole second, and then scored on an RBI single by Isaac Matthies. That made it 2-1 Panthers.

Burton put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

With one out, Witt and Tosta reached on back-to-back singles, and Martin was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Easton Witt came in to courtesy run for Martin. Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to bring in Tyler Witt with the third run of the game. Biggs hit an RBI groundout that scored Tosta. Eli Jaeger later smashed a double to left field that scored Easton Witt and Rodriguez to give Burton a 6-1 lead.

Ropes managed to load the bases in the top of the 7th with one out, but then Witt got a strikeout, and the last hitter flied out to Rodriguez to end the ball game. Then, the celebration was on.

The Panthers finish the season with a 29-4 record.