MUS-Christian Brothers take rivalry to state

MURFREESBORO -- The rivalry between Christian Brothers and Memphis University School is always intense but rarely had the stakes been this high.

It had been five years since the two met in the TSSAA Division II-AA state tournament.

But while Christian Brothers returned to state after missing last year, the MUS players were happy to finally be there.

“I’ve never been to state and it’s really special to come here,” MUS senior John Bolton said.

While the rivalry is fun, baseball is where the differences are clear. MUS has never won a state championship. Christian Brothers has won 13, the last one coming in 2016.

Even with MUS winning three of four previous meetings this year, the players and coaches knew the state tournament meant they had to raise their game knowing Christian Brothers’ history.

“If we lose, we want to walk out of there saying we gave everything we got,” MUS coach John Jarnagin said.

At Wilson Central High School Wednesday, the fifth game between the teams proved the most exciting. Christian Brothers rallied for three runs in the fourth inning to tie the game after MUS had a three-run inning. MUS had the final blow with Hayden Stark’s walk-off single.

Bragging rights had come but the MUS players downplayed it for the sake of the bigger goal.

“We had a job to do today, and I feel like we had to do that. I didn’t mind stepping up,” Stark said.

That attitude reflected a team with six seniors being everyday players in the lineup. Jarnigan even called this team special because his players have simply done their job and did it well.