Finley Munsey hit a soft line drive through the infield and Luke Evans scored from second base as Owensboro Catholic walked off with a 5-4 win over Owensboro to take the top spot in the 9th District baseball standings Tuesday night.
The Aces (15-6, 3-0 9th District) trailed for most of the game and were down 6-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but Munsey came through with the game-winner to lift Catholic to their ninth straight victory.
“I always just look for fastball and adjust to curve,” he said. “He threw me a fastball and I was lucky enough to hit it. You just have to love to be in those moments. You can’t be scared. I was just ready.”
Owensboro (11-8, 2-1) went to reliever Trace Grenier for the final inning but he walked the first three batters. Starting pitcher Isaac Humphrey came back to the mound and struck out Luke Scales before facing Andrew Wiman.
Wiman drove one back up the middle to knock in Sam McFarland and Luke Evans to tie the game, setting the stage for Munsey’s heroics.
“I’m proud of our guys,” said Catholic head coach Derek Hibbs. “We battled through. When Isaac came back in, I think he had the same stuff. I think our guys just had a little life with guys on base. Andrew and Finley came through with huge hits right there.”
Humphrey had a no-hitter going through four innings, and the Red Devils were in control early.
“I thought we played a great first five innings,” said Owensboro head coach Logan Johnson. “We left some runners on base, but we were aggressive to good pitches. We played good defense.”
The Red Devils got on the board in the third inning with RBIs by Tucker Hagan and Nick Belcher that scored Eric Epperson and Braxton French. They added another in the fifth when Epperson laid down a bunt single to drive in courtesy runner Andrew Chancellor.
With Owensboro up 3-0 in the top of the fifth, lightning halted the game for a short period. When play resumed, Hibbs said Catholic seemed to have gained momentum.
“Once we got back, it just felt like we had a little additional life,” he said. “We just kind of rolled with it.”
Everett Munsey got the first hit for Catholic, and he advanced all the way home on three separate passed balls. Owensboro went up 4-1 in the next inning with a single by French that scored Epperson, but the Aces got back within two when Finley Munsey drove in Scales.
“In the last couple of innings, we gave them a couple of base runners,” Johnson said. “Defensively we were fine, but offensively I think we let off the gas a little bit. They did a great job of coming back and getting guys on and getting guys in.”
Sam McFarland got the win for Catholic, throwing the final 3.2 innings and allowing one unearned run on two hits while striking out six. Hunter Small started the game and gave up three runs on five hits.
Grenier took the loss and was responsible for the final three runs. Humphrey struck out nine, walked six and allowed five hits in total.
Finley Munsey and Owensboro’s Belcher each had two hits.
OHS 002-101-0—4-7-1
OCHS 000-011-3—5-5-2
WP: McFarland. LP: Grenier.
