No 3rd Region baseball champion was crowned Wednesday night after a thunderstorm rolled in mid-game.
After drying the dampened fields with a helicopter to get ready for play, lightning halted the action before giving way to more rain, and the title game between Owensboro Catholic and Breckinridge County was postponed.
The game is scheduled to resume at 5 p.m. Thursday at Shifley Park.
The visitors on the scoreboard, Breckinridge County (26-5) currently hold a 2-0 lead over Owensboro Catholic (23-14) in the bottom of the third inning. When play resumes, Catholic will have runners at first and second with one out and Sam McFarland at the plate.
McFarland started on the mound for the Aces, allowing two unearned runs on three hits with three strikeouts in three innings of work. With his pitch count at 40, McFarland will be unable to throw in Thursday’s outing due to restrictions enforced by the KHSAA.
Also ineligible to pitch for the Aces because of pitch count sanctions are Finley Munsey and Mason Grant, two of their other top performers on the mound. According to Catholic head coach Derek Hibbs, that leaves Luke Scales, Everett Munsey and Hunter Small as viable options to help lead them to their first state tournament appearance in 14 years.
Breckinridge County will be in a similar situation on the mound. Wednesday’s starter Preston Cottrell will be ineligible after allowing no runs in 2.1 innings. Brock Lucas, who secured the win for the Tigers in Tuesday’s game against Owensboro, will also be unable to throw on Thursday.
“He’s probably in the same boat as us,” Hibbs said. “Sam has been throwing well for us and Cottrell has been throwing well for them, so it’s next man up for both teams.”
Breckinridge County’s two runs came when Kobe Poole started the second inning with a double, advanced to third on a balk and scored on an error that allowed Isaac Seeger to reach first. Seeger then took second on a passed ball and scored on a base hit by Cohl Proctor.
Andrew Wiman and Small were the only two Aces with hits, while Lucas and Poole both had one double each for the Tigers.
Moving forward, Hibbs was concerned that the weather could pose another potential threat Thursday, but regardless of the situation he said his team needed to be prepared.
“For us, we just have to play well,” Hibbs said. “We gave up a couple of runs there with some defensive plays and that’s the stuff we have to clean up. I think we will put some runs on the board with whomever we have on the mound.”
The winner will advance to the semi-state game at Western Kentucky University, where they will take on the 4th Region champion South Warren at 11 a.m.
