The Eagles offense led them to a win over Henderson County on Thursday, while Daviess County suffered its first loss of the season against Grayson County.
Henderson County at Apollo
Apollo knocked off Henderson County on Thursday night at Apollo High School by a score of 10-4. Though the Eagles settled in comfortably, a wild pitching display in the first inning forced them to play from behind.
Junior pitcher Charles Schneider opened the game by allowing a leadoff single to Dru Meadows. Meadows made his way around to score just two batters later by way of a wild pitch. Shortly after Meadows was plated, teammate Trevor Kellen also scored, this time on a passed ball to give Henderson County a 2-0 advantage.
Dayton Brown made Eagles fans forget their frustrations in the home half of the first with a bases-clearing triple to center field. The big hit made it a 3-2 ball game in favor of the home team.
After holding the Colonels scoreless in the second inning, Cayden Crabtree knocked a single to left field that scored Michael Chaney and stretch the lead to 4-2. On the hit, Josh Mayes advanced to third base.
Moments later, with Josh Mayes on third base and Cayden Crabtree on second base, a mishandled ground ball back to the pitcher scored both men. The ball was put in play of the bat of Will Strode, while Colonels pitcher Seth Galloway threw the ball away to make the home team’s lead 6-2.
Henderson County was able to pull back a run in the top of the third, by way of an Andrew Mills single which scored courtesy runner Brennan Cates. After the hit, the visitors trailed by three at 6-3.
Both teams failed to score again until the bottom of the fifth inning when Apollo plated four additional runs to pad the lead at 10-3. Garrett Lanham, Will Strode, Carter Kimmel, and Dayton Brown all made their way home on an inning that included four walks, an error and a double.
Henderson County rounded out the scoring on a wild pitch by Harrison Bowman in the top of the seventh that scored Alec Satterfield to bring the final score to 10-4.
The win for the Eagles improved their record to 5-0 on the young season, while Henderson County’s record dropped to 0-2.
The Eagles will take the field again on Saturday when Trinity (Louisville) comes to town for a 1:00 PM ballgame.
Grayson County vs. Daviess County
Daviess County lost for the first time on Thursday in the young 2022 season, as the Panthers allowed five unanswered runs in the final three innings of play to fall to the home team 5-3.
For Grayson County, seven stolen bases and six hits helped push them over the edge, along with three errors from the Panthers.
Senior Owen Payne started the scoring in the top of the fourth inning for Daviess County, as he belted a towering home run to left field, also plating Lake Wilson who doubled in the previous at-bat.
Sophomore Cougars pitcher Jeren VanMeter ran into more trouble than just the two big hits in the inning, as a wild pitch with two outs scored Lucas Ward from third base for Daviess County. Ward had previously reached on an error by VanMeter himself.
The 3-0 for Daviess County lead did not last long, however, as the Cougars bats and legs came to life in the bottom of the fifth. After four solid innings from starting pitcher and home run hitter Owen Payne, Lake Wilson ran into trouble in relief.
After a single to begin the inning and an error two batters later, there were Cougars on second and third as Camden Brothers stepped to the plate. Brothers quickly found himself down 0-2 in the count. The next pitch was a ball to make it 1-2. Two foul balls came on the next two pitches. Finally, on the sixth pitch of the at-bat Brothers cracked a single to center field, which scored two runs and cut the County lead to 3-2.
Wilson retired the next two batters to end the bottom of the fifth inning. The Panthers came to the plate leading by a run and hoping to add to their lead in the top of the sixth but were silenced once more by VanMeter, who ended his night after six solid innings.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, trailing by a run, the Cougars once again went to work. With two outs in the inning, a single by Chandler Mccrady scored a run to tie the game. Right fielder Ethan Ahart pumped the ball back into the infield quickly, limiting the damage and keeping the bases loaded.
Ahart then came in to pitch to the next batter and induced a ground ball to Lake Wilson at shortstop. Wilson, unfortunately, threw the ball down the right-field line, allowing two Cougars to score to make it a 5-3 ball game.
The lead was all that Grayson County needed to win the game, as Owen Payne was unable to re-create the magic of his earlier plate appearance, lining out with the bases loaded to end the game.
The loss was Daviess County’s first of the season and moved their record to 5-1. Grayson County improved their own record to 2-2 in the comeback.
Up next for the Panthers is a game at Hancock County on Saturday night. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.
