After having a strong regular season, the Owensboro Bombers have battled their way to a chance at a state title against Lexington Post.
The Bombers season got off to a rough start with a loss in their first game at semi-state, but Head Coach Freeman said that they are a determined group and were able to put the opening loss behind them and earned their way to state.
Owensboro has had a steady diet of solid pitching all season long, but the offense has come alive and helped them to a 23-8 record and a chance to defend their 2021 state title.
“We set team and individual goals at the start of the summer,” Freeman said. One of those was to make it back to the championship game which we have.”
Peyton Cary has led the charge on the bump, toting a 5-0 record, a .538 ERA, 41 strikeouts and 19 walks. Owen Payne follows right behind with a 3-1 record, while owning a 3.70 ERA, striking out 29 and walking 20 on the year.
Meanwhile it’s a trio of Apollo products leading the way offensively, with Harrison Bowman heading the charge with .468 batting average, 26 RBIs and an OBP of .564.
Charles Schneider follows with a .419 batting average, 22 RBIs and an OBP of .517, while Easton Blandford is hitting .407, has 31 RBIs and a .496 OBP.
It’s a true team effort for the Bombers and Freeman said that their desire to win and see their teammates succeed is a huge key to the success they’ve had.
“This group has had great chemistry and pull hard for each other,” Freeman said. “They have been a fun group to coach.”
The current roster also boasts a number of returning players who helped the Bombers grab its first state championship since 2008 last year. This experience has been huge in setting the expectations for the team as a whole as the season progressed.
“The kids that were on last year’s team have given this team the stability we needed during a long season of eight weeks of nonstop baseball,” Freeman said. “They create an atmosphere of winning with their perseverance and determination to play the game hard which has led to much of our success.”
Freeman said as long as they play cleanly and back up their pitching, the Bombers have more than enough of a chance to grab a state title.
“To win the state title this week we have to play more solid defense,” Freeman said. We can’t have three or four errors a game and expect to score enough runs to cover those mistakes. We also need to jump out to an early lead. Success at the plate is contagious. So the kids need to get focused and execute situational hitting every opportunity.”
This showed in game one against Lexington on Tuesday, as Owensboro had zero errors to their five and grabbed a 12-2 short-game victory.
Schneider led the way at the plate with three RBIs, while Owen Payne and Cayden Crabtree chipped in a pair each. Brock Brubaker, Harrison Bowman, Joshua Mayes and Gavyn Minyard got in on the action with an RBI each.
Cary continued his strong string of outings on the mound, keeping Lexington at bay by allowing just two runs on two hits and striking out eight in the complete-game victory.
Weather permitting, the Bombers will take on Lexington once again on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in hopes of grabbing their second straight state championship.
