ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — It has been nearly 40 years since Clyde Berry led the Reddies to the 1982 AIC baseball title. 

The long wait for the program's next conference championship is now over.

On the field that bears Berry's name, No. 7 seed Henderson State completed one of the greatest Cinderella runs in league history on Tuesday and defeated No. 1 seed Arkansas Tech 6-1 to win the 2021 Great American Conference Tournament title.

The landmark victory gives HSU the program's first conference championship in baseball in the NCAA era and clinches an automatic bid for the Reddies to the NCAA Central Regional Tournament in Warrensburg, Missouri on May 27-30. 

The Reddies, who became the lowest-seeded team to ever win a GAC Tournament Championship in any sport, dispatched the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds on their way to the conference crown.

Starter Spencer Taack, who was the GAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, stole the show for Henderson on Tuesday. Pitching on just three days rest, Taack went seven full innings for the Reddies against the conference's regular-season champions and allowed one unearned run on four hits. The junior All-GAC First Teamer struck out four, walked three and threw 104 pitches in the longest outing of his career.

Nick Butler led HSU's efforts at the plate and finished 3-for-4. Six other players recorded one hit for the Reddies, including Danny Mitchell Jr., who scored two runs, and Bryson Haskins, who drove in three.

HSU took an early 1-0 lead in the championship game after two Tech errors helped plate a run in the first. The Wonder Boys answered with the tying run in the bottom half but stranded two in scoring position. 

The contest became a pitcher's duel after the pair of early scores. Taack and ATU's Riyan Rodriguez were both excellent and traded four-straight scoreless innings to keep the game tied at 1-1.

The turning point came in the top of the sixth. A walk and a single put two runners on base for Henderson with one out, and Bryson Haskins made the Wonder Boys pay, as the Reddies' reliable centerfielder delivered a three-run, no-doubt home run over the wall in left to make it 4-1. 

A stunned Arkansas Tech squad never recovered and failed to record a single hit in the final five innings of the title game. The Wonder Boys' four hits matched their lowest offensive output in a game this season.

Henderson, meanwhile, got a sac fly RBI from Kaden Argenbright in the seventh and a solo home run from Joe Myers in the top of the ninth to erase any doubt in the final result. Taylor Langston, in his last appearance at Clyde Berry Field, sat the final six ATU batters down in order to set off a wild celebration for HSU.

Six Reddies were named to the 2021 All-Tournament Team: Taack, Butler, Mitchell Jr., Haskins, Argenbright and Greyson Stevens. 

Henderson out-scored its three top-seeded opponents 31-8 during its GAC Tournament run. HSU's pitching staff was superb and surrendered just 19 hits in 27 postseason innings.