ROME, Ga. (WJBF) – The Harlem High School Bulldogs won the Georgia Class-AAA state baseball championship sweeping the first two games of a best-of-three title series against Ringgold High School on Friday night at AdventHealth Stadium, home of the Rome Braves, the High Class-A minor league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

Harlem (25-1) came from behind to win both games. In game one, the Bulldogs trailed 3-2 in the top of the seventh before tying the game on a wild pitch. Shane Wheeless then delivered a two-run single that gave the Bulldogs the 5-3 advantage that would prove to be the final score.

“It was 0-2, I got down early,” Wheeless said. “I swung at a couple of bad pitches. But, God was on my side and let me bloop one over the shortstop’s head and we won. All glory to God on that one.”

Game two began a half hour after game one ended and started as a pitcher’s duel, with Ringgold taking a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth. That changed when Tryston McCladdie, who has committed to play baseball at Clemson, crushed a solo home run onto the grass berm beyond the right field wall to tie the game.

An inning later, sophomore starting pitcher Will Holder gave the Bulldogs the lead with a sacrifice fly to left scoring Jeremiah Hamilton. Holder’s father, Bulldogs Athletic Director Rodney Holder, and his grandfather, legendary Evans, Greenbrier and Thomson baseball coach Terry Holder were both in attendance.

In the sixth, they saw Ringgold load the bases against Holder with no one out. But, after recording the first out, Holder coaxed a ground ball back to the mound, starting a 1-2-3 double play to end the threat and preserve Harlem’s 2-1 lead, setting off another celebration among the Harlem faithful.

Holder went the distance scattering three hits and a run. After the final out, the Bulldogs dogpiled on the field while the hundreds of fans who made the trip across the state of Georgia, and who were warned repeatedly by the public address announcer to stay off of the field after the game, celebrated in the stands.

The win marked the sixth state championship for legendary Bulldog coach Jimmy Lewis and the first since 1986. Harlem was a perfect 10-0 in the postseason.

“This is one of the greatest teams I’ve ever coached” said Lewis, who has won more than 800 games since taking over the Harlem program in 1979. “Because this crowd right here, whatever it took they did it. They’re all just a band of brothers. They love each other and give it all they’ve got. I love them and coaching them is the most fun I’ve ever had.”,

“It’s crazy,” Wheeless said. “It’s something I’ll never (forget). Just so much happiness. It’s just wild.”

A celebration is planned in downtown Harlem when the team arrives back home, expected to be some time between 12:30 and 1 p.m. Everyone is invited.