After scoring nine runs in order to top Daviess County to get the 9th District Championship, the Red Devils’ fiery offense cracked double figures on Thursday night in order to defeat Apollo 11-3 for their first district title in five years.
Sophomore Trevor DeLacey got the starting nod for Owensboro, walking the leadoff hitter before retiring the next two. But a two-out single by senior Sam Holder gave him some trouble, as senior Aiden Wells followed with a bloop single to left—scoring one while runners advanced to scoring position on the throw home.
A fly out to right on the very next pitch ended the top half of the inning though, as the Eagles took the 1-0 lead into the bottom of the first. The Red Devils wasted no time battling back, getting a little help on a misplayed fly ball in right to land freshman Elijah Hampton at second to lead off the inning.
A wild pitch moved the courtesy runner to third, but freshman Evan Hampton singled to left to knot things up at 1-1. A balk later put Evan on second, taking third shortly after a fly out to right from sophomore Cayden Ray for the first out of the inning.
Senior Connor Hallmark followed this up with a walk and stole second, with sophomore Blake Kimbrell grounding out to second to score one and five Owensboro its first lead of the night at 2-1. A fly out to right by sophomore Brady Benjamin followed, but it was the Red Devils who were in charge after one.
After a scoreless top of the second, Apollo senior Charles Schneider—who had pitched seven innings on the season coming into the game—bounced back to start the bottom of the second with a groundout. However, a walk and a single proceeded to end his day, finishing the game having allowed two unearned runs on two walks and two hits in 1 ⅓ innings pitched.
Senior Braxton Franey took over on the bump, quickly getting a fielder’s choice with a force at second—but facing runners on the corners with two down. A hit by pitch loaded the bases for the Red Devils No. 3 hitter Ray, but solid contact only led to a line out to right to keep things at 2-1 going into the third.
The Eagles pounced on the momentum from escaping the jam as well, as junior Will Strode sent a shot over the left field wall to leadoff the top of the third by tying things up at 2-2. Nothing else came of the inning though, and it wasn’t until the bottom of the fourth that someone would cross home plate.
A leadoff double down the third base line by sophomore Will Hume got things started, with DeLacey sliding into first safely to turn a sac bunt into an infield single shortly after. DeLacey then stole second and the throw down from Wells allowed Hume to score.
A balk and then a single up the middle from Eli Hampton followed, giving Owensboro a 4-2 lead. Chaos continued with a bunt single for Evan Hampton, but great awareness allowed Franey to throw behind the runner at second for the first out of the inning.
Ray singled to left, later advancing to scoring position along with Evan on a wild pitch. Hallmark came through with a double to left during the ensuing at-bat, scoring two more as the Red Devils took a 6-2 lead into the fifth.
Owensboro didn’t stop there either, quickly loading the bases with a hit by pitch, Hume’s second double of the day and a walk to start the bottom of the fifth. Eli Hampton would strike out looking, but Evan walked to make it 7-2 and end Franey’s day—as the senior righty allowed five earned runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out one.
A fly out to short right kept runners at bay for the second out of the inning, but Hallmark walked to bring in a run and make it an 8-2 ballgame. Kimbrell would single to left to plate two more, but eighth grader Ross Milburn finally stopped the bleeding with a strikeout to send Apollo into the sixth trailing 10-2.
But the Eagles were only able to get one more run on the night, as they scored in the top of the seventh—but a run from Owensboro in the bottom of the sixth nullified as junior Kaleb Ashley shut the door on an 11-3 9th District Championship win.
Ashley had pitched the last three innings of the night, while DeLacey pitched the first four with the pair of pitchers allowing just six hits in the game. Meanwhile, the Red Devils collected 13 hits as a team, as their steady mental approach at the plate put pressure on Apollo.
“Earlier in the season, in two-strike at-bats we were pretty much chalking it up as an out,” Fiorella said. “Now we fight a little bit, put the ball in play, move runners and get guys in. We’ve done a really good job with that and if you can keep that going to the postseason then you can keep your season going for a long time.”
Hume and Hallmark played big roles in doing so, chipping in three RBIs each while the Hampton twins had a pair each as well. Will Hume was 2-2 to go along with his trio of RBIs and a walk, continuing his recent hot streak that has provided Owensboro with some pop at the bottom half of their lineup.
“Will Hume was great,” Fiorella said. “He hit the ball hard. He had two doubles and I’m pretty sure he drew a walk. He was great… He’s been swinging it well, so we rode with him today and that’s what we want to see from him.”
The district title win is a big one for the Red Devils program, which has quickly turned things around since Fiorella took over at the helm in the past few seasons. Owensboro isn’t satisfied though, wanting to set this as the standard while focusing on competing for a longer postseason run.
“It’s a really good step for our program,” Fiorella said. “It sounds almost negative, but that’s just what it is—a step. We’ve gotta go to the regional tournament in two days and there’s very little room for error there. No matter who we draw… We’re going to have to play very well if we expect to keep the season rolling.”
Apollo Head Coach Brandon Dennis tipped his cap to the Red Devils following the loss, stating that they executed their gameplan and made plays when needed.
“They did an outstanding job doing what they wanted to do,” Dennis said. “We know that they have lots of offensive firepower and the guys that they put on the mound did a great job of competing and doing what they needed to do. Once we had some of the defensive lapses that we had and once we started to fall behind hitters on the mound, that’s a recipe for disaster for us.”
Schneider took the loss in his start for the Eagles, one that was a result of needing rest for other pitchers going forward. Senior Braxton Franey took over in relief and was handed the loss in three innings pitched, allowing eight earned runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out one.
While the loss isn’t the result that Apollo wanted, Dennis said that they have to keep their eye on their main goal—to win a 3rd Region Championship. In order to do so, he says that they will have to work ahead, stay ahead, play great defense and scratch up runs each and every inning.
“We knew coming in that we had to kind of treat this as what it was,” Dennis said. “Because this is not the ultimate prize. The ultimate prize is the regional championship and having coached a couple teams who were district runner-ups and won the region, I have the luxury of having the perspective of knowing that this game didn’t really mean anything… It’s what I told them out here. Sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war you want to win, and that’s what we had to do tonight.”
With finals on Friday and the quick turnaround after the draw as well, Fiorella and the Red Devils have their eyes set on the same prize—with an emphasis on controlling what they can control in order to keep prolonging their postseason run.
“We just gotta stay focused and keep our eyes on us,” Fiorella said. “It doesn’t matter who we play. If we play good defense, we throw strikes, we make plays, we execute pitches—we’re going to be fine.”
