Phenix City, AL (WRBL) – It was another banner year for the Glenwood School baseball team. The Gators recorded an incredible record of 45 wins to just 4 losses. The fell short in last season’s AISA State Championship game, but this year Glenwood got redemption and won the school’s 23rd State Championship. The team says the key to their success was putting the team above any individual player.

“Everyone is going to have to, even if they get out, they always have to rely on the next kid to back them up and get the job done,” said right fielder and pitcher Wyatt Tharpe.

“People were getting upset a little bit, because they weren’t playing the way they wanted to or not playing at all. We all came together and we realized this is way bigger than individuals. We had to do this together,” said senior left fielder and pitcher Lukas Holman.

Together they won Glenwood’s 23rd State Championship. Together the team gave that state trophy to their inspiration that season, head coach and Stage 4 Colon Cancer survivor Tim Fanning. For this team Coach Fanning is way more than just a coach.

“It meant everything just to hand it to him, because he just deserves it all just for everything that he’s done for us. You know he deserves it all really,” said senior center fielder Aaron Burton.

“Growing up in this program I’ve always seen him as a role model as a person you can always see, because he leads by example,” said senior pitcher Jackson Kennon.

This was the first state championship Tim Fanning has won since his cancer went into remission in March of 2020. Before this season, Glenwood won the AISA State Championship in 2017. The moment when the team handed Coach Fanning the State Championship trophy was emotional for him.

“When you go through something like I went through you know there’s always doubts and you go to dark places and things like that. Just to see these young men invest in each other and just want to do it for someone other than themselves. It made me as proud as I’ve ever been in my life,” said Fanning.

The win could have been all about the team, but Coach Fanning doesn’t want to make the championship about himself. It was more of a thank you to the community that has supported him.

“My boys, and this school, and this community have always wrapped their arms around me. I feel just in small way this is a gift to them,” said Coach Fanning.

Congratulations to the newest AISA Baseball State Champions the Glenwood Gators.