The 12-year-old was directed not to, though.
But to his credit, he had already sent a three-run shot over the fence an inning earlier.
“He gave me the take sign my second home run,” Spears said of assistant and third base coach Tim Nichting.
“I swung away,” he smirked.
Not much was said or heard — other than a loud crowd from Hamilton — after he blasted a fastball down the left field line and around the foul pole for a grand slam.
Spears capped off a six-run inning to help lift West Side to a 17-5 victory over New Albany in the Ohio Little League state championship game at the Field of Dreams in Boardman.
“It was great,” Spears said. “The first home run, I knew it right off the bat. I knew it was gone. Second one, I thought it might have went foul. Gone.”
West Side will play Kentucky on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Great Lakes Region tournament, which runs through Aug. 6 in Whitestown, Indiana. That game will be televised on ESPN+.
“I really don’t know how to describe this,” Spears said. “It’s cool playing with my best friends. I grew up with them. And it means something to play for West Side.”
Spears and a lively bunch of 11- and 12-year-olds have helped West Side win its 40th consecutive district championship and a 22nd overall state title. West Side is going after its sixth trip to the Little League World Series (1991, 1993, 2007, 2010 and 2021).
Spears has been a dominant factor in West Side’s success the last few weeks. The right-handed slugger is 7-for-16 (.438) with 15 RBIs and nine runs scored.
He’s made three appearances on the mound — combining for 5.2 innings of work and eight strikeouts.
West Side scored 13 straight runs after trailing 5-4, and Spears retired seven of the last nine batters he faced to close the game out in four innings on Thursday.
“Gavyn is our project,” West Side manager Ken Coomer said. “He’s getting better and better and better. … He fought through it (on the mound). He’s shown a lot of growing up. He grew up today. He didn’t throw a fit. He held his composure pretty well — and it didn’t affect his stick as you can tell.
“He’s in his first year in our league, so he’s had a lot of learning to do — understanding things, and he’s understanding them.”
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