One pitch away from punching their ticket to the 9th District Tournament and 3rd Region Tournament, Owensboro’s Cayden Ray’s pitch caught Daviess County’s Brody Brubaker on the arm to load the bases. A few pitches later, Brody Brubaker hit a grounder to Evan Hampton, but an erratic throw allowed two runs to score and cut the Red Devils lead to 4-2. Seeing their lead slip away, Will Rickard took over on the mound and recorded the last out on two pitches to keep Owensboro’s season alive.
“Rickard was the perfect guy for that situation,” Ray said. “Pressure is on, and he is relaxed up there. Fills it up, lets a fly ball go to left, and we made the play.”
Despite the blemish in the seventh inning, Ray was nearly unhittable, allowing two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings, striking out 10.
It was a tight pitcher’s duel early, with Brodie Tucker stumping the Red Devils hitters early thanks to his off-speed repertoire.
“I thought Brodie pitched great,” Daviess County head coach Austin Clay said. “I thought he did a great job of locating, mixing speeds, and keeping them off balance.”
The game started slowly with both offenses struggling to get going early. In the top of the third, Daviess County had the best early opportunity, loading the bases with two outs. Unfazed, Ray got Lucas Ward to fly out to end the threat.
“Bases loaded. Let them put it in play and let my defense make the play,” Ray said. “It was what I did.”
It took until the bottom of the fourth inning for Owensboro to break the scoreless tie, scoring three off of a Blake Kimbrell double, Trevor DeLacey fielders choice, and Will Rickard single. The Red Devils added an insurance run an inning later after Brady Benjamin doubled home Jordan Quesnell.
“Benjamin had a huge two-out double that scored an extra run,” Owensboro head coach Jake Fiorella said. “If that is a 3-2 run in the seventh, you feel completely different when they had runners on second and third with two out. That’s what the postseason is, no holds barred.”
The Red Devils will face Owensboro Catholic in the 9th District Championship game with the date to be determined due to incoming weather.
The Panthers end their season 17-15 and are losing eight seniors to graduation.
“It was a lot of ups and downs this year,” Clay said. “There were obviously some things we wished we did better and were better. But what I was most proud of was that the kids kept showing up and kept the same energy. That is all I can ask for.”
For Aces, third time is the charm
After going 0-2 against Apollo in the regular season, Owensboro Catholic found a way to make the plays when it mattered, beating the Eagles 3-1. The Aces scored two runs in the top of the first inning thanks to RBI singles by Parker Heistand and Mason Moser and chased starting pitcher Carter Kimmel out of the game, after he only recorded one out.
With two on and only one out and needing to limit the damage, the Eagles’ Jackson Carder got Alex Hood to ground into a double play to end the threat.
Handed a 2-0 lead, the Aces starting pitcher Barrett Evans weaved himself in and out of trouble, allowing one run over seven innings and allowing only six total base runners. Owensboro Catholic extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the third after D Miles scored on a wild pitch.
Apollo responded in the bottom of the fifth when Grayson Smith singled home Garrett Lanham, but they wouldn’t have another runner reach base for the rest of the game. After replacing Kimmel in the top of the first, Carder and Ross Milburn combined for 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run and striking out three.
The Aces return to the 9th District Championship and await Owensboro later this week.
“I thought we played well,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Jody Hamilton said. “We left a few baserunners out there, but we were solid defensively. Barrett was really good, and Jaxson had a couple of nice plays in centerfield. I am always excited about advancing to the next game.”
