MOREHEAD — East Carter’s baseball team may never wear anything but its navy blue jerseys again.

Why would the Raiders change? They won the 16th Region title Thursday, a 9-0 shutout of Boyd County at Morehead State University’s Allen Field.

East Carter coach Jeremiah Shearer is almost proud of being superstitious, especially when it comes to apparel.

“I think we’ll wear these as long as we can run them out,” Shearer said. “We might never wash them again.”

Center fielder Tyler Jackson, the only senior Raider, said the win had a lot to do with attitude.

“We have a pretty laid-back team,” said Jackson, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “Baseball’s a mental sport. We just can’t let small things get to us.”

The parents of East Carter’s players were in school the last time a baseball team felt this feeling — the Raiders won the state title in 1984 as a district runner-up — and East was last in the region finals in 2003. The 2009 Raiders were aware of the history.

“We didn’t even mention it at all,” junior pitcher Derek Stapleton said. “We didn’t have to mention it. It was in the back of our minds.”

Stapleton was a major contributor. He held Boyd County (20-19) to four hits with five strikeouts on just 98 pitches, and he had a double and triple in three at-bats.

“You come out here and Derek Stapleton throws a great game,” Boyd County coach Brandon Ramsey. “I think it was a combination of (fastballs and breaking balls) that kept us off balance.”

Shearer spoke of Stapleton’s character.

“He’s a fighter, he’s got guts,” he said. “He’s a pure baseball kid.”

Both the Raiders and Lions have blistered their opponents this week. East Carter carried a .667 batting average into Thursday, while Boyd County countered with a .440.

For two innings Thursday, however, there wasn’t much offense. Neither side advanced past second and managed just a hit apiece.

A look at the dugouts told a lot of the story. While East smiled and joked, Boyd County’s players were somber.

Stapleton threw 18 pitches over the last two innings of Wednesday’s 9-5 semifinal win over defending champion Greenup County. Thursday, he hit Cody Delaney in the first and walked another in the second.

Boyd County left-hander Brett Moore, meanwhile, also struggled early — he walked the first batter in the second and third innings.

East (20-13) capitalized in the third.

Left fielder Dylan Genung walked and went to third on center fielder Tyler Jackson’s single to right. Both scored on catcher Ty Back’s single to center.

The Raiders served up a helping of big and small ball in the fourth inning. Genung’s single in the fourth scored first baseman Tyler Clay from third, and Stapleton’s triple to right made it 4-0 after Jackson singled and stole second.

Even East Carter’s mistakes didn’t hurt that much. In the bottom of the fifth, he Lions’ Kyle Pauley reached first on Tyler Baier’s errant throw, but Tyler Clay atoned by throwing out Chase Pettit at the plate to end the threat.

It didn’t matter that East Carter had two out in the sixth. Jackson’s single, doubles by Dylan McDavid and Back and Baier’s single produced five runs.

The Raiders meet the 15th Region champion in the best-of-3 semi-state tournament beginning Monday in Pikeville.

Stapleton snagged Jared Spicer’s grounder for the final out.

“I was wanting a strikeout,” he said. “But I’ll take any out I got.”

EAST CARTER 002 205 0 – 9 12 3

BOYD COUNTY 000 000 0 – 0 4 2

Stapleton and Back; Moore, Salisbury (6) and Cornwell . WP: Stapleton. LP: Moore. Save: 3B-Stapleton (EC); 2B-Stapleton (EC), Spicer (BC), McDavid (EC), Back (EC).

All-tournament team

Heath Mineer (Fleming Co.), Mason Rister (Raceland), Josh Reed (Raceland), Eric Craft (Greenup Co.), Billy Logan (Greenup Co.), Ty Back (East Carter), Chase Pettit (Boyd Co.), Tyler Jackson (East Carter), Kyle Pauley (Boyd Co.), Dylan Genung (East Carter), Jared Spicer (Boyd Co.), Derek Stapleton (East Carter).

Most Valuable Player: Tyler Jackson, East Carter.