For the first time since 2005, Owensboro Catholic secured a spot in the 3rd Region baseball tournament by winning their first-round 9th District game.
The Aces handily defeated Apollo 10-1 on Tuesday night at Chautauqua Park for an opportunity to meet Owensboro in Wednesday’s title game.
The last time the Red Devils and Aces met in 9th District championship game was in 1977, with Owensboro winning 1-0.
In the win over the Eagles (16-16), the Aces (20-14) rode a dominant outing from winning pitcher Mason Grant, who was thrilled that his team was able to secure the victory.
“It’s amazing — I can’t believe we did it,” Grant said. “We put a lot of time and effort into it and it definitely paid off big time.”
Grant pitched a complete game for the Aces, striking out three batters while only allowing one run on two hits. Catholic head coach Derek Hibbs was not short on compliments for the senior pitcher.
“Mason just attacked the zone,” Hibbs said. “He was throwing strikes, and we played error-free baseball.”
Catholic did most of their damage in the seventh inning, plating seven runs to extend their lead to 9-0. Two hit batters, three walks, an error and RBI doubles by both Sam McFarland and Luke Scales allowed the Aces to take their largest lead of the night.
Apollo’s run came off a solo home run by Tommy Clark in the top of the sixth inning.
The Aces finished the year 2-1 against the Eagles, and the avenged a loss from the most recent meeting when Apollo defeated Catholic 10-0 in six innings.
“Apollo’s got a good team,” Hibbs said. “Coach Head has done a good job that first year (as the head coach).”
The Aces plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning to put them on the board first. Back-to-back singles by Luke Evans and Scales put runners at first and second with one out. An error, a Finley Munsey single and an RBI fielder’s choice by Braden Mundy allowed both Evans and Scales to score.
The Aces’ final run came on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning.
While Hibbs was excited about the victory, he said that there was no room for complacency.
“I’m very proud of our guys,” Hibbs said. “They’ve worked hard all year long. I’m ready to get ready for this district tournament with these guys.”
McFarland finished with a team-high three hits and Scales had two. Evans, Scales and Mundy each scored twice, while Andrew Wiman drove in two runs.
AHS 000-001-0—1-2-3
OCHS 200-701-x—10-9-1
WP: Grant. LP: Maddox. 2B: Scales, McFarland (OC). HR: Clark (A).
