For the second time this season an Owensboro and Eagles battle was decided by one run, as the Red Devils came out on top 1-0 thanks to a walk-off passed ball in extra innings at home on Tuesday.
Both teams were struggling to put the ball in play throughout the contest, with the game tied at 0-0 going into the sixth. It was in the bottom half of the inning that Owensboro got a leadoff double from freshman Elijah Hampton, but nothing would come of it.
This led to senior Noah Cook and sophomore Cayden Ray continuing to control the game on the mound, as they both pitched a scoreless seventh to take the game into extra innings. Cook’s day came to an end there though, as he was pulled after allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out nine.
Ray on the other hand remained in the ballgame, two of three he faced in the top of the eighth—finishing with two hits allowed and 11 strikeouts to take the scoreless ballgame into the bottom of the eighth. The Red Devils fed off of that momentum as well, with Elijah coming up with another double—this time bringing up his brother Evan Hampton with one down.
Having faced some struggles at the plate earlier in the game, Head Coach Jacob Fiorella was proud of the freshman for persevering throughout the game. This is something that Fiorella is trying to instill in its players, knowing that they have the talent to come away with a win each and every game.
“We had some good at-bats,” Fiorella said. “Eli had two not great at-bats for him… We just kept telling him ‘trust your ability, trust your ability. Get your pitch and go.’ And he did that. That’s what we’re kind of trying to get these guys to trust. That they’re good enough, they’re capable, they’re expected to do it and then to just go out and freely play.”
Evan and Ray were both intentionally walked though, loading the bases for sophomore Blake Kimbrell. Things weren’t looking great for the lefty after two straight swings and misses to start the at-bat, but a passed ball came to the rescue and allowed sophomore Will Rickard to slide into home safely, helping Owensboro claim the 1-0 walk-off win.
Fiorella was proud of the complete effort the Red Devils put together on Tuesday, adding air tight defense behind a dynamic performance from Ray.
“It’s a win and it’s an opportunity for us to try and take a step forward,” Fiorella said. “I don’t know in the two years [I’ve been here] that we’ve had a shutout. We certainly haven’t had one in the 9th District and that’s really really good. That’s a testament to our pitcher and our defense today.”
While Owensboro had some missed opportunities throughout the home contest, Fiorella was glad to see them fight back. Not looking to use a younger roster as an excuse, the Red Devils skipper was proud of his players resolve and wants them to know that as long as they battle every single play that they are capable of piling up some wins.
“I think at the end of the day our guys are just learning how to when bad things happen, when silly things happen, when unfortunate things happen that you can’t give up and can’t give in,” Fiorella said. “You just have to keep playing the game. A lot of times our guys get caught up in playing the opponent, or get caught up playing the scoreboard. And if you do that, games can get away from you.”
Owensboro advances to 10-10 overall and 2-2 in district play with the win, as they’ll take this momentum into another district matchup with Daviess County at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Apollo struggled at the plate, with Cook’s pitching performance keeping them within reach in the game. Head Coach Brandon Dennis and the Eagles were frustrated following the loss, noting that they’ve been unable to find a consistent lineup as of late while tipping his cap to both Cook and Ray as well.
“Ray did an outstanding job,” Dennis said. “He was lights out. Honestly at this point in time, we’re not a very good offensive team. It’s on us. We probably need to teach them better, be better teachers to help elevate them from where they’ve been in the past. We haven’t unlocked it yet. We’re having great practices and great bp sessions, but it’s just not showing up in games.”
Dennis said that he thought they took way too many hitters pitches and worked ourselves into counts that were in Ray’s favor, as he hopes that they can correct their plate approach as the season progresses.The Eagles will get their first chance to do so on Thursday, as they sit at 16-7 overall and 2-2 in district play going into a 6 p.m. matchup with Owensboro Catholic.
“I’d like to see us have an approach that gets us more than a couple hits a game and maybe lets us score more than a couple runs,” Dennis said. “Just to take some pressure off of our pitchers. It’s great that we have this pitching staff, but it’s not really fair to those guys for them to have to carry all the water.”
