After coming up short in the 9th District championship last week, Owensboro got back to their winning ways Monday with a 10-3 victory over Ohio County in the opening round of the 3rd Region baseball tournament at Shifley Park.
The Red Devils (24-10) relied heavily on the bat of Braxton French, who tripled in his first two plate appearances and scored on both occasions while finishing 3-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. Defensively, starting pitcher Nick Belcher held the Eagles (21-17) at bay, allowing no runs on two hits with seven strikeouts in four innings of work.
Owensboro did the bulk of their damage in the top of the fourth inning when they scored six runs. Trace Grenier led things off with a walk and advanced to second on an Austin Gough single. A sacrifice bunt by Eric Epperson allowed runners to advance to second and third, respectively, before French drove in Grenier on a single to the right side of the field. Tucker Hagan and Nick Belcher hit back-to-back RBI singles to score both Gough and French before both were driven in by a triple to deep center field by Collier Higgs. The rally ended with a double to center field by Brennon Williams that scored Higgs.
Owensboro head coach Logan Johnson was pleased with his team’s efforts on the day.
“I really liked the way the guys came out ready to play, fired up and ready to get to get the regional tournament for us underway,” Johnson said. “They were focused and ready to go and I really liked the way they handled themselves today.”
Ohio County struggled to piece anything together early, stranding runners in each of their first four innings before plating three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Kolton Lambert was hit by a pitch and Trystan Clothier and Caleb Kennedy hit back-to-back singles to load the bases for the Eagles. Vincent Jabczyski drove in both Clothier and Lambert on a single to left field, while Kennedy scored on a sacrifice fly by Wade Everly.
Belcher, who earned the win on the mound for Owensboro, helped his cause by going 2-for-3 while driving in two runs and scoring one. Andrew Chancellor pitched three innings in relief, allowing three runs on seven hits.
Owensboro wasted no time getting started, plating one run in the top of the first inning. French led off the inning for the Red Devils with a triple to deep center field and scored on a fielder’s choice to the right side of the infield by Belcher to give Owensboro a 1-0 lead.
Owensboro extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the third when French tripled to deep center field and scored on an ensuing error. Singles by Belcher, Higgs and Brennon Williams loaded the bases with two outs, and courtesy runner Chancellor added one more run when he scored on a passed ball.
The Red Devils added an insurance run in the top of the sixth when Higgs scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Williams.
Johnson noted several improvements since Owensboro’s outing in the 9th District championship loss.
“I felt like we were on our heels (Wednesday),” Johnson said. “Today was more like ‘step in the box ready to hit, you get on the mound and you’re ready to pitch,’ and that’s the kind of mentality we’ve got to have going forward.”
Owensboro advances to the semifinals at 8 p.m. Tuesday, when they face Breckinridge County, who beat Grayson County 7-6 in the final first-round game. The teams split their meetings in the regular season.
“We’re just going to come out with the same mentality,” Johnson said. “We will have these guys fired up and ready to go.”
OHS 102-601-0—10-12-0
OCHS 000-030-0—3-9-1
WP: Belcher. LP: Batts. 2B: Williams (O). 3B: Higgs, French 2 (O).
