Be it from their April Florida trip or their 3rd Region All “A” Tournament run, Owensboro Catholic has found itself in a plethora of precarious situations throughout the year. So, when they were trailing 4-1 against Apollo last night, they were unfazed and responded with an eight-run third inning, seven of which came with two outs – en route to a 10-4 win over their 9th District rivals.
“I think we were calm and relaxed,” Owensboro Catholic Head Coach Jody Hamilton said. “We have played some really good teams this year, and I felt that our maturity would overcome anything we haven’t seen in a while.”
Trailing the Aces 1-0 entering the bottom of the second, the Eagles’ offense exploded for four runs in the inning – highlighted by RBI singles by Ace Lillpop, Jagger Pate, and Brayden Burger.
“Offensively, I thought we performed well. I think we came out, had some good approaches, and had 11 hits,” Apollo Head Coach Heath Hicks said. “We could probably have had more, but we had a little bit of bad luck on the offensive side of the ball. But offensively, I thought we performed well.”
Mason Russelburg got the fireworks started for the Aces in the bottom of the third, singling home Tucker Evans. Back-to-back two out RBI singles by Alex Hood and Jaxson White tied the game at 4-4 and an Eagles fielding error handed them the lead. RBI singles by Evans, Drew Miles, and Russelburg pushed the lead to 9-4.
Cal Murphy took the mound for the Aces in the fourth and quickly stifled the Eagles’ offense. The eighth grader allowed three total base runners and struck out two over four shutout innings.
Russelburg, White, and Evans each drove in a pair of runs, while Hood and Miles both had two hits. Ryleigh Logan, Ross Milburn, Pate, and Lillpop all had two hits a piece Apollo and Burger finished 1-3 with two RBIs.
Isaac James came on in relief for Apollo in the fourth, allowing one earned run over 3 1/3 innings, while Gage Logsdon pitched an inning in relief.
The two teams won’t have to wait long for the rematch, as Apollo travels to Owensboro Catholic tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
