May 26, 2026 — The Kell Longhorn baseball team started the 2026 playoffs seeded fourth in Region 6-4A with a 17-13 overall record and coming off four straight losses. It didn't look promising to say the least. That was then...

"We played really, really tough competition in our non-region schedule," admitted Head Coach Todd Harris. "Just about every single team we played made it to the playoffs. And when you do that, you learn how to win games; you learn how to win close games. Losing games also teaches a lot of lessons, and that was the one thing we learned a lot of lessons from this season: playing very good teams and getting beat."

Those lessons were taken to heart, and the Longhorns tore through their postseason schedule with a vengeance. After needing three games to put away Locust Grove and Harris County in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Kell boys decided that they were done with losing. They swept East Forsyth, Cartersville, and North Oconee to claim the first-ever baseball state title for the school. ...This is now.

"No matter if another team wins the state championship after today, you guys did it first," said Kell Principal Dr. Peter Giles after the title win. "You are the best team we've seen here and I am so proud of you. Thank you for the memories!"

The GHSA 4A Championship was played at AdventHealth Stadium, home of the Rome Emperors, on Saturday, May 23. The weather threatened all evening, but cooperated long enough to finish the first game before the sky opened up and dumped a heavy rain as fans scrambled for protection. Once the rain passed, the second game began and finished just before a second wave of storms began to pass through. It was perfect timing.

Junior Dom Consolino pitched the entire first game for the Longhorns, throwing 83 total pitches and 55 strikes. Kell led the entire game, scoring a run in both of the first two innings, and another in the sixth. The North Oconee Titans scored single runs in the second and sixth innings, but couldn't claim the lead. The first game was a 3-2 win for the Longhorns.

Georgia Tech commit, Evan Brand, pitched the second game, throwing 100 total pitches and 66 strikes. Both pitchers finished their nights with a 66% strike percentage. The Longhorns got things started early in the first inning, jumping out to a 2-0 lead that held until the top of the third, when the Titans took their first lead of the evening, 3-2. The Longhorns got their offense going in the bottom of the fourth with a 5-run inning to reclaim the lead, 7-3. North Oconee scored a couple more runs in the fifth inning, but could never make up the difference. The game ended with a final score of 8-5 and history was made for the Kell baseball program.

"All I wanted to do was to get in the playoffs, because if we got in the playoffs, I knew we were good enough to win it all," Coach Harris said about his team's resilience. "We learned how to win as a team, and I just couldn't ask for anything more from these guys. They're coachable, but I'll tell you, throughout this playoff run, I rarely had to raise my voice because they took ownership of this team. I'm grateful for all the support from the Kell community and our administration. I couldn't ask for anything more than that!"

Kell Athletic Director Oneisha Young, who predicted a championship sweep for the Longhorns early in the day, reminded the team of all the adversity they endured to win the 4A state title.

"You beat all the odds by doing this all on the road," she said to cheers and applause from the team and coaches. "They said we couldn't beat Locust Grove; we beat Locust Grove. They said we definitely couldn't beat Harris County, but we went down there and beat them, then East Forsyth, Cartersville, and now North Oconee. Despite every challenge, you rose to meet them and found a way to get the win. I am very proud of you all. Congratulations to our seniors, and to the underclassmen, let's go for a back-to-back!"

Congratulations to the entire Kell Longhorn baseball team for a much-deserved state title! This team will go down in Kell sports history as one of the most resilient and most talented teams the school has ever fielded. Well done, Longhorns!