St. Clair powers Apollo by Daviess County

May 30, 2021 | 12:04 am

Updated May 29, 2021 | 10:39 pm

Tyler Dixon | Owensboro Times

Coming into Saturday, Apollo’s Dan St. Clair was the only Eagle to hit a home run this season as the senior first baseman had three prior to their 9th District Tournament opener against Daviess County.

When the game ended, St. Clair was still the only Eagle to homer this season but he upped that number to five as he hit two home runs — a solo and three-run — to propel Apollo past the Panthers, 7-1.

The win also give the Eagles their first 3rd Region Tournament appearance since 2017.

Apollo coach Mason Head said he didn’t try to bog his squad down with too many thoughts since he wanted them to have just one on their mind.

“Be us,” he said. “That was my message. Yesterday that was the message. Today that was the message. Thursday at practice and Wednesday at practice. Just be us.”

The pitcher’s duel from Saturday’s first matchup continued as Apollo’s Nick Judd and Daviess County’s Jackson Loucks battled for the first few innings.

St. Clair put the game in motion with his solo shot in the top of the second.

“Just put my swing on it … ” he said was the message from his coaches. “Just make solid contact and it’ll go somewhere.”

St. Clair put his swing on the ball again in the bottom of the fourth when he hit a three-run shot to put the Eagles up 4-0.

Head said he’s told his team all year that they’re a team and they all have to step up.

“Today might be your day. Today might be his day,” Head said. “It doesn’t matter. You always have a job to do. Even when you’re not successful, you still have a job to do. Our job is to depend on each other and get the job done when it’s our turn. Today was Dan’s turn and Dan delivered. Tomorrow it’ll be somebody else and next week it’ll be somebody else.”

The Eagles would add three more runs in the frame and with the help of four DC errors in the inning, Apollo led 7-0 after four.

Nick Judd
Tyler Dixon | Owensboro Times

The Panthers got on the board in the top of the sixth when a groundout scored Decker Renfrow but Head said the performance put on by his started Judd was something special.

“That’s just him,” Head said. “His pitches were moving but that’s just him. He’s got fire in the belly. Something happens to him when he steps on the mound then he goes to a different place. It’s the kind of thing you hope athletes have. It’s the kind of thing great athletes have. There’s just something that ignites in this brain when he steps on that mound, it’s like nothing else exists. He’s just in that moment and it’s so fun to watch.”

Judd finished with nine strikeouts and just one hit allowed in the game as the Panthers run was unearned.

Head said he also has to tip his cap to Loucks as the sophomore kept the Eagles off-balance in the first few frames.

Loucks went 3.2 IP while striking out one, allowing seven hits and two earned run.

Jackson Loucks
Tyler Dixon | Owensboro Times

Daviess County coach Austin Clay wrapped up his first actual season as head coach of the Panthers after he was hired before the 2020 season.

After the game, Clay said his message was to let his younger players know to look forward but he also wanted to commend the seniors for everything they did for the program as well.

“There’s a lot of good guys coming back in this district so don’t get complacent being young because we’ve got a lot of young guys coming too,” he said.

Clay said now that he has a full season under his belt, it’s time to reflect on what he learned.

“You hear people talk about it being a marathon, a grind,” he said. “But I don’t think you really appreciate it until you go through it. You see how important pitch by pitch, day by day is. You never know what can happen in one game.”

Apollo now advanced to Sunday’s 9th District Tournament championship against Owensboro Catholic as the two teams hit Shifley Park at 3 p.m.

Catholic is looking for its second-straight crown while Apollo is searching for it’s first district title since 2015.

“It’d be pretty great,” St. Clair said when asked what a win Sunday would mean. “The three years I’ve been here we haven’t made it out of district so it’s pretty nice to get out of there now. I want to add on a district championship title.”

May 30, 2021 | 12:04 am

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