Runs were hard to come by in Apollo’s home game on Thursday, but they were able to get one when it mattered most to earn a walk-off 2-1 win against the Panthers in a pitcher’s duel.
It was the Eagles who struck first in front of their home crowd, as a leadoff single from sophomore Grayson Smith and a hit by pitch the following at-bat led to a sacrifice fly later in the inning from senior Hayden Cash to make it 1-0 going into the second. The Panthers responded swiftly though, getting one back to knot things up at 1-1 in the top of the third with a line drive single to left from junior Lake Wilson.
Things looked hopeful for Daviess County as well in the top of the fourth, getting a one-out single from senior Jackson Loucks and back-to-back walks to load the bases. However, sophomore Lucas Ward struck out and senior Decker Renfrow flew out, thus ending the threat and keeping things tied at 1-1.
From then on junior Noah Cook coasted for Apollo in his complete-game start, allowing just the one run on four hits and three walks to along with a whopping 13 strikeouts. His efforts were rewarded in the bottom of the seventh as well, with a one-out single from junior Michael Chaney and back-to-back two-out singles from seniors Charles Schneider and Josh Mayes to load the bases.
Shortly after, a pitch got away from Wilson, allowing senior Sam Holder to score from third and give the Eagles the 2-1 win. Wilson took the loss despite a solid start, tossing 6 ⅔ innings and allowing one earned run on five hits and three strikeouts.
The Panthers fall to 9-8 overall and 0-3 in district play with the loss, now looking to turn things around in another district matchup with Owensboro Catholic at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25. Apollo on the other hand improves to 15-6 overall and 2-1 in district play, taking a three-game winning streak into a road contest against Madisonville-North Hopkins at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
