Owensboro Catholic continued their trend of late-game drama as they beat Corbin 5-4 in extra innings in the first round of the state tournament. Thanks to a game-winning RBI by Mason Moser, OCHS won in walk-off fashion after 9 innings. The Aces trailed early on due to an inside the park home run, but Barrett Evans later hit a 2-run homer that would go on to send the game into extra innings.
Three innings of baseball had been played without a run to separate the two teams at 4-4. Owensboro Catholic allowed just one hit before they quickly got 3 outs to put Corbin on the defensive in the bottom of the ninth inning. Brady Atwell led off and was walked to first. A strikeout on the next AB put pressure on the Aces, but they still had one runner on base to do something with. Christopher Burns was hit by a pitch and Barrett Evans was walked to load the bases with just 1 out. Parker Heistand then hit a grounder to infield, and the play was made at home plate to prevent Atwell from scoring the winning run.
It was Mason Moser who then stepped up to the plate and battled with Corbin’s closing pitcher. With two outs hanging over his head, Moser let a strike go by before hitting a foul. He was behind in the count, but that didn’t stop him from hitting a fly ball into left field just over third base. The ball dropped and bounced on the ground as Jude Evans crossed home plate for the run that would send the Aces into the quarterfinals.
The dugout cleared and the team rushed towards first base where Moser was waiting to celebrate with his team. OCHS head coach Jody Hamilton said that this is just another example of the team refusing to quit. Hamilton attributed the team’s never give up mentality to their close-knit nature.
“We’ve done it all year,” he said. “This team never quits. We’re a tight unit, and we’re actually pretty close to being a family. We’ve got a lot of kids who are related to each other, they all play other sports with each other and get closer. They fight amongst each other just like I did my brother. It just makes you close to one another. We’re glad to move on. We don’t know what God’s plan is for us, but we’ll be back here tomorrow.”
Owensboro Catholic didn’t start out as hot as they finished as they fell behind immediately. In the opening inning, Corbin’s lead-off batter pulled off an inside the park home run after hitting a deep fly ball into right field. The Aces didn’t take long to bounce back however, as Houston Flynn and Jaxson White hit ground balls to get on base. Atwell was next up, and he tied the game up with an RBI single to run in Flynn.
Both teams tightened up on defense and held one another scoreless in the second inning. Luke Quinn led on the mound for the Aces in the first four innings of the game. He had 2 strikeouts total and kept Corbin on their toes to keep the score close. Corbin took the lead in the third inning After they had key hits to put runners on first and second. A fly ball to center field allowed one run in, and Corbin went into the bottom of the third with a 2-1 lead.
OCHS was shut down in the third, but it was three up and three down in the top of the fourth to put them back at the plate. Heistand hit a big double out to right field, and Moser’s sacrifice bunt placed him at third in scoring position. Eli Blair then tied the game back up with an RBI single that scored Heistand. Two consecutive ground outs ended the inning, and Corbin wasted no time getting the lead back. They hit a lead-off single before a fielder’s choice and a fly out threatened to end their AB early. A deep hit fly ball to center field scored a runner and put the batter on third. After another was walked to first, a line drive single took Corbin’s led to 4-2.
Atwell hit a lead-off single in the bottom of the fifth. Two quick outs put pressure on OCHS, but Barrett Evans didn’t let this distract him at the plate. After watching one ball go by, Evans cracked one just above the back fence for a crucial 2-run homer. With the game tied back up, neither team gave an inch on defense.
Corbin managed to get runners into dangerous positions, but Ben Hyland led the defense on the mound in making some spectacular plays to keep the game tied. Blair made a diving catch deep in left field and Atwell caught a very high-flying ball going foul to help keep the game close. Hamilton praised his defense’s efforts as they could not have been in the position to win in walk-off fashion had some key plays not been made both on offense and defense.
“We had some spectacular plays on defense,” he said. “The ball Eli caught in left field, Brady hoses their fastest runner out at second and Flynn goes up the middle and makes that play. Without those we might not be here. They had a runner at third when he made that play.”
“Our 2 pitchers did a good job of keeping them off balance,” he continued. “They hit a few balls harder than I thought they might, but Ben Hyland came in and he was instrumental. He put on a clinic out there. I was happy to see it. Then Moser comes through, he’s done that 3 or 4 times already. He did it in the first game of the All “A” tournament.”
The Aces will play in the quarterfinal against Hopkinsville (23-9) today at 4 p.m. Hamilton sees their state run not just as a chance to compete for a title, but to represent and bring more attention to Region 3 baseball. He hopes that with continued success, more eyes and more scouts will be drawn to not just Owensboro schools, but all of Region 3.
“We just got to keep doing it, and I was really proud of them,” he said. “Hopefully we can make the 3rd Region proud. The better we do here, the better it makes our regions look and more scouts will come watch our region play. Kids all over our schools will hopefully move on to play college baseball.”
