Aces struggle early at the plate, comeback attempt falls short against Beechwood in opening round of state tournament

June 3, 2022 | 12:05 am

Updated June 3, 2022 | 1:28 am

Photo by Gage Johnson

After a rough start in the first round of the state tournament Owensboro Catholic battled its way to extra innings, but it was the Tigers who seemingly had the right answer all game long and got a walk-off single to grab a 7-6 win to move on to the second round.

The Aces tried to put some pressure on Beechwood early, taking advantage of an error that allowed senior Everett Munsey to reach second with one out. The following at-bat senior Luke Scales hit a single back up the middle, but while he advanced to second Munsey was thrown out at the plate.

However, senior Sam McFarland drew a walk shortly after, keeping a two-out rally alive for senior Braden Mundy with runners on first and second. But Mundy wasn’t able to connect, striking out to keep things tied going into the bottom of the first.

The Tigers then got their turn to ramp up the intensity and after a strikeout from McFarland to start the inning, they did just that. Following a one-out walk, senior Brett Holladay reached second shortly after thanks to an error on McFarland on the pickoff attempt.

Junior Bruce Estep proceeded to put Beechwood on the board the following at-bat, hitting a blooper to right that turned into a double to make it a 1-0 game. Shortly after Scales corralled a grounder at short, but took too long to decide on the throw and the runners were safe at the corners with one down.

Junior Ben Meier then sent a fly ball to left, scoring one to make it 2-0. Meier tried to snag an extra base shortly after, but Mundy gunned him down trying to steal second to send the game into the second inning.

Owensboro Catholic responded to the adversity well, getting a solo shot from senior Alex Castlen in the bottom of the second to cut the deficit to 2-1. McFarland followed it up with a strong inning on the mound, retiring the Tigers 1-2-3 to keep it at 2-1 going into the third.

The Aces gave themselves a chance to knot things up in the top half of the inning, as Munsey singled and stole second before Scales walked to put runners on first and second with one out. McFarland worked the count full at the plate, with a passed ball allowing runners to advance into scoring position.

He would strike out looking, bringing Mundy to the plate with two down. The senior catcher grounded one to second and tried to slide in safely at first, but he was called out and it remained 2-1 Beechwood going into the bottom half of the third.

Meanwhile the Tigers kept grinding at the plate, earning a one-out walk before a ground rule double from Holladay put runners in scoring position. With the infield in, Estep bounced one over Atwell’s head at third to score one and leave runners on the corners with one out. 

Meier proceeded to fly out to the warning track in center the following at-bat, making it a 4-1 game before sophomore Elijah Blair made a diving catch in center shortly after to send the game into the fourth.

Berger continued to control the game on the mound in the top of the fourth, striking out three straight after surrendering a leadoff single to freshman Brady Atwell. This put him at eight strikeouts, having walked just two and allowed four hits going into the bottom half of the inning.

Junior Grant Parson entered the game for McFarland in the fourth, starting off strong with back-to-back strikeouts. However, a two-out single up the middle for senior Jackson Roseburrough led to an RBI triple for junior Nazario Pangallo.

A walk led to runners on the corners and two down for Holladay at the plate, quickly turning into runners in scoring position after Pangallo stole second. But Parson was able to work out of the jam, getting a fly out to center to keep it at 5-1 going into the fifth.

Owensboro Catholic continued to fight, showing they weren’t going away easy with a one-out single from Munsey, Scales reaching on an error at second and McFarland loading the bases by singling to right. This marked the end of Berber’s day on the mound, as junior Sam Stacy entered the game.

Mundy would plate a run with a choppy grounder to third that turned into an infield single, giving the Aces their first run since Castlen’s homer in the second. Atwell chopped one to short that turned into a fielder’s choice and another run, but Castlen flew out to right to end the top half of the fifth with the Aces trailing 5-3.

But Beechwood came right back offensively, scoring on a controversial call. With a runner on second, senior Tanner Jackson hit a fly ball to left field that was well foul.

However, the third base empire called it fair, leading to a double for Jackson and a 6-3 lead for the Tigers going into the top of the sixth. It seemed as if Beechwood was going to silence Owensboro Catholic’s bats once again in the sixth, but Evans got hit by a pitch with two down and the Aces put together a rally.

Evans stole second before Munsey was walked and then Scales singled to left to bring in a run. But after McFarland was hit to load the bases, it was Mundy’s two-out single to left that scored two to knot the game up at 6-6.

Junior Torin O’Shea then entered the game for Stacy and Atwell worked the count full, but a deep fly out to left stopped the bleeding for the Tigers. But the damage had been done, as the Aces had new life in a 6-6 ballgame going into the bottom of the sixth.

It couldn’t help but feel like Owensboro Catholic’s intensity was received by the missed foul ball call in the bottom of the fifth and Head Coach Jody Hamilton recognized it as such following the game.

“People miss calls, they make calls,” Hamilton said. “Things happen. They’re human, we’re human. But it got them up a little bit.”

Scales played a huge factor in the comeback, scoring the first run of the sixth before later scoring the tying run on Mundy’s single. He had tried to motivate the team before the inning and now his number was being called to the mound for the first time all season.

Despite having battled an injury all season that kept him from taking the field and the mound itself, it looked like Scales never missed a second. He got a groundout, a strikeout and another groundout to sit the Tigers down 1-2-3 and send it into the top of the seventh tied at 6-6.

While Owensboro Catholic couldn’t take advantage offensively, Scales was virtually untouched in the bottom half. Getting a groundout and two more strikeouts, Scales had three and hadn’t surrendered a walk or hit in two innings to send the game into extras. But after the Aces went scoreless in the top of the eighth, Beechwood’s offense came alive one last time.

It started with a leadoff single from Meier in the bottom of the eighth, but a fly out followed for the first out of the inning. Scales walked the next batter and worked Roseburrough to a full count with runners on first and second, but Roseburrough was able to single to left to grab a 7-6 walk-off win to eliminate Owensboro Catholic in the first round of state.

Despite Scales surrendering the walk-off win, he was a major factor in the Aces even having the opportunity to play in extras in the first place. Hamilton was thrilled with his play and in a perfect world he would’ve gotten to see him fight the same way all season long.

“I told him at the end there ‘you’re such a tremendous competitor, I wished I’d gotten to see you all year in shape,” Hamilton said. “This game would’ve been different if we had him in shape all game… He’s just a player. He’s a treasure to watch and I wish I could’ve watched him more.”

Along with Scales allowing one run on two hits, surrendering a walk and earning three strikeouts, he was also a leader at the plate going 2-4 with one RBI. The Aces did have struggles at the plate throughout the game, striking out looking eight times on the night—something Hamilton attributes to Estep behind the plate for the Tigers.

“I knew for a fact that their catcher was a really nice player, but I don’t know how many pitches he stole,” Hamilton said. “That kid is so good, he had people all over the place thinking those were strikes including us.”

However, on top of the strikeouts Owensboro Catholic had missed scoring opportunities throughout the game. Hamilton said they were able to stay up and battle back, but not scoring more early came back to bite them.

“I think we were good the whole game,” Hamilton said. “I thought our energy level was tremendous and we just didn’t get the break we needed when we needed it. We had runners all over the place… We had our chances early to score some runs, but just didn’t do it.”

Owensboro Catholic fell to 30-5 overall to close out the 2021-22 campaign, having their postseason run cut short in the first round of state. Regardless of the loss, Hamilton is proud of how the team handled itself all season long.

“These guys gave it everything they had,” Hamilton said. “It’s been an unbelievable year, they’ve won like gentlemen and they’re gonna take this hard. They’re going to take it really hard. But, I think they’ll wake up in the morning and see that whatever the plan is that God has given us is gonna be clear, the path with be straight and it’ll be great.”

Having come out of retirement and finding such success with a talented crew, Hamilton is thrilled with how his first year went and expects many more successful seasons going forward.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Hamilton said. “They’re great kids and for me to get back into coaching, it’s been a good bunch to start with I’ll tell you that.”

June 3, 2022 | 12:05 am

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