Joseph Baker waited a year for this opportunity, and Athens Bible head baseball coach Bill Murrell knew the time was now.

One year after transferring to ABS from Ardmore, Baker tossed a one-hit shutout in his first game with the Trojans — a 10-0 win over Marion County in the opening round of the Class 1A State Playoffs.

“It’s been horrible to wait,” Baker said. “It took a while to get used to, but it’s all right now.

“It’s going to be a good little playoff run. This has already been the memory of a lifetime.”

Murrell made the decision to send the sophomore left-hander to the mound after discussing the Red Raiders with another coach whose team had faced Marion County this season.

Learning that the Raiders struggled against lefties, Murrell knew Baker was the man for the job.

“He comes from a baseball family,” Murrell said. “He is the fourth child of a baseball family. The dad taught his sons about the game all their life. I knew he had been in these kinds of situations before.”

Baker set the tone by striking out two of the first three hitters he faced in the top of the first inning, then he led off the bottom of the first with a basehit.

Baker finished with three hits, including a double, and scored two runs.

“That’s what got us going right there,” said catcher Jordan Pugh, who followed Baker with two hits for ABS.

“He just picked up everybody. He’s what got it started. I’m really glad we got him.”

Baker pitched to one batter over the mininum. He gave up a one-out double to Cory Burleson in the second inning, but walked none and struck out six.

The Trojans played errorless-baseball behind him.

One out after Baker’s lead-off hit, Brian Houghton hit a RBI-triple into the left-center field gap. Pugh followed with a single for a 2-0 lead.

Will Chumbley drove in a run wiith a single in the second. Cody Nave added a RBI-ground out in the fifth inning, and Jonathan Winland and Pugh had two-run singles in a five-run fifth inning.

Nave scored on a wild pitch with two outs to give ABS a 10-run margin and the win.

ABS will be on the road at either Covenant Christian or Victory Christian for a best-of-three second round series on Friday.