The Owensboro Post 9 Bombers’ performance dropped below .500 after a close 3-2 loss to the Tuepolo 49ers Senior Legion team on Saturday morning. They wasted no time rebounding with a 3-2 victory over the Fighting Squirrels on Saturday evening.
Despite amassing seven hits as a team, the Bombers (9-8) struggled to put runs on the scoreboard in game one.
Courteously runner Garrett Lanham scored both runs, while shortstop Grayson Smith finished with two hits and two RBIs. Logen Thomas added a double, with Talan Cartwright, Michael Chaney, Cayden Crabtree, and Joshua Mayes recording a single each.
Several runs came in the third inning when the Bombers struck first to put one on the board, but the 49ers followed with two of their own. The Bombers added one more in the fifth to tie the game at 2-2, but Tupelo got struck again in the sixth.
Peyton Cary pitched in the first contest, allowing only one earned and two unearned runs on four hits.
Game two was a different story as the Bombers had to rally from down two runs entering the bottom of the sixth. They rallied in the sixth to put three runs on the board and secure the 3-2 win.
Carter Kimmel picked up the win on the mound, allowing just two runs on six hits. Smith secured the save.
Mayes and Sims each had a double in the victory, while Smith and Houston Flynn both had singles. Mayes, Sims, and Crabtree scored the three runs.
The Bombers won 7-3 over the Pontotoc Red Sox Friday evening. In the game before that, they fell 7-1 to Eugene Pate 265. The games are all part of a tournament at Columbia State University in Tennessee, which continues through July 7.
Last week, they lost both games of a doubleheader against Rockport Legion Post 254.
After returning home, the team will venture across the river to face Newburgh and Evansville Funkhouse on July 9 and 10. Then, they will return home to Kamuf Park to face Lyon County on Friday night and Madisonville in a doubleheader on Saturday.
Matt Freeman manages the 19U Legion team, which has been a mainstay in Owensboro for nearly a century.
American Legion baseball began in 1925 when the veteran organization decided that athletics was an excellent vehicle for teaching young people courage and respect for others.
The Bombers have won 16 state championships, including the last three in 2021, 2022, 2023.
