CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (ESPN CLARKSVILLE) – Dustin Smith and the Northeast Eagles baseball team accomplished something that hasn’t been done in 20 years at Northeast High School.

On Wednesday night at Beech High school, the Eagles captured the Region 5-AAA title after beating Beech 6-1. Smith, who was a pitcher on the 1997 team, took the head coaching position 13 years ago and has seen the good and the bad that comes along with coaching high school sports. He also knows moments like last night don’t come along every day, much less every season.

“It means a lot. This is the first region title in 20 years. I was a part of that team in 1997, and I have been here for 13 years as the head coach, and it got to the point I didn’t know if I would ever get back to Region,” Smith said. “We challenged this group of seniors to be that team to get Northeast back to where it was, and they responded. This is a special group who bonded together for one common goal.”

After a 3-0 regional semifinal victory over Wilson Central on Monday night, the Eagles traveled to Hendersonville to take on Beech, who eliminated Clarksville High School 2-0 in 11 innings two nights earlier.

Northeast standout pitcher and Western Carolina University commit Mitch Rogers was on the mound for the Eagles Wednesday night. The senior right-hander pitched four innings, surrendering zero runs, three hits, striking out two, and walking one. The Eagles had some closing help from junior Collin Hamilton, who threw one and two-thirds innings, while sophomore Octavio Montes finished the night.

Offensively the Eagles collected 12 hits on the night. Izayah Williams, Christian Scott, and Justin Williams each made the most out of their trips to the plate, including solo homeruns by Izayah Williams in the third and sixth innings.

At 26-12 on the season, the Eagles know there’s still work to be done.

“We took this tournament in steps. We told them the top of the ladder was the state tournament, and we would take a step at a time. After each game, we would talk about continuing to climb, and take the next step. Our key this season was pitching and defense. We have a solid group of pitchers, and we are very athletic on defense,” Smith said.

The Eagles will host Brentwood this Friday night at home with a 7 p.m. start time. Senior pitcher and Volunteer State commit Collin Loose will be on the mound for Northeast.

Follow the Eagles on Twitter @NEASTBASEBALL.