Owensboro pieced together 11 hits to defeat district foe Apollo 9-2 on the road Tuesday night, and the Red Devils clinched sole possession of the 9th District baseball No. 1 seed. The Eagles finish in a tie for second with Owensboro Catholic.
Owensboro (17-8, 5-1 9th District) relied heavily on the steady arm of winning pitcher Nick Belcher, who struck out seven batters while holding Apollo (13-12, 3-3) to zero earned runs in six innings of work.
Red Devils head coach Logan Johnson was quick to point out that Belcher contributed quite significantly at the plate as well. The senior went 2-for-4 with two singles, drove in one run and scored once.
“He’s just a competitor,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to pinpoint any one good thing he does. He always battles and has a good at bat. That’s what we need in the middle of our lineup.”
Owensboro’s bats really started to warm up in the fourth inning when Isaac Humphrey led off with a deep solo home run to right field. A Brennon Williams walk followed by a Trace Grenier single put runners at the corners with no outs. Austin Gough then managed to drive in Williams and advance Grenier on a hard hit ground ball to the right side of the infield. Braxton French drove in Grenier with a single for a 4-0 lead.
Down five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Apollo attempted to generate a rally. Max Holder led off the inning with a triple to deep left-center field. An ensuing shallow fly ball and throwing error allowed Holder to score to trim the Eagles’ deficit to 6-2, but that was all the damage they could do.
Apollo head coach Mason Head acknowledged instances where his team played well, but attributed much of the defeat to the performance of his opponent.
“All around, they won every category there was to win,” Head said. “They were on base the whole day — they just swung the bat well.”
Owensboro’s leadoff hitter French started the game with a single and stole second to put a runner in scoring position immediately. Belcher then drove a single up the middle to plate French.
Apollo managed to trim the deficit by one in the fourth inning when a double up the middle by Tanner Klee scored Josh Maddox, who led off the inning with a single.
Owensboro’s bats stayed hot in the sixth and seventh innings, plating five additional runs to secure the 9-2 victory. Grenier and Gough recorded two hits a piece in the final two frames, while French recorded a single and Williams a sacrifice fly.
With just over a week left in the regular season, Head stressed the importance of his team improving their mental game heading into the postseason.
“We have to be sharper,” Head said. “All the little things have to be taken care of — that’s defensively and offensively.”
While Johnson was excited about obtaining the No. 1 seed, he expressed how important it is that they continue to work hard and prepare for their opening game of the tournament.
“I want our guys to be ready to play and ready to compete,” Johnson said. “Internally we are going to prepare as best as we can to be ready for that first game.”
French earned the save for Owensboro, retiring the side with three strikeouts in one inning of work. Gough and Williams both recorded doubles, while French and Grenier recorded three hits a piece.
Klee and Tommy Clark led the way at the plate for the Eagles. Klee was 2-for-2 with one double, while Clark was 2-3 with one double.
OHS 100-302-3—9-12-2
AHS 000-101-0—2-6-2
WP: Belcher. LP: Clark. 2B: Williams, Gough (O), Klee, Clark (A). 3B: Holder (A). HR: Humphrey (O).
