Digging into the batter’s box, Apollo’s Gunnar Hendricks knew he wanted to go to the opposite field. The sophomore sat back and waited patiently, driving his pitch over the right field fence for a three-run bomb and a 5-0 lead. Hendricks’ moonshot highlighted an eight-run first inning that Apollo used to cruise to a 10-0 win over district rival Daviess County.
“He has been on his way to breaking loose,” Apollo head coach Brandon Dennis said. “Yesterday, he had maybe the best high school batting practice session I have ever seen. Just in terms of doing numbers, whenever he swung the bat, something incredible happened. …That was two at bats in a row, he hit the homer and then laced one off the wall that looked like it was going to get out. That was a really strong performance.”
The Eagles took advantage of three hit batters and two walks in the opening frame to jump out to what became an insurmountable lead. Jackson Carder started off the scoring with a two-run double, before Hendricks followed it up with his homer. Ross Millburn and Sam Holder both drove in a run with two outs to make it 8-0.
The Eagles’ last two runs came on a fielder’s choice in the third and an RBI double in the fourth.
Handed an 8-0 lead before even taking the mound, Eagles starting pitcher Ross Millburn quickly got to work, striking out four batters in the bottom of the first after Logan Mewes reached base on a dropped third strike.
“Coming out in the first inning and scoring eight runs as a pitcher, you can’t ask for anything better than that,” Millburn said. “For me on the mound, it was a little rough. I was a little wild at times, but I got through it.”
Pitching himself in and out of trouble, Millburn threw a complete game shutout, striking out eight over five pristine innings. At the plate, he finished 3-4 with three RBIs, while Hendricks was 2-2 with three RBIs.
Having played summer ball together for almost four seasons, Millburn and Hendricks have forged a connection as a battery.
“Having a great relationship with your pitcher, that’s how I feel with our entire pitching staff,” Hendricks said. “Being able to go out there knowing what they are comfortable with before the game even starts, really helps me and our team know what we will be having that day out of them. If it’s not their best day, we have the defense behind them to back them up anyway.”
Holder and Carder both drove in a pair for the Eagles, while everyone in the starting lineup had at least one hit.
For the Panthers, Sean Page had the team’s lone hit. Logan Mewes started on the mound, but was pulled after 2/3 of an inning. Noah Ranburger came on in relief, allowing only one run over 3 1/3 innings, while Parker Wilson pitched the fifth.
“Noah did a good job and I was proud of him,” Daviess County head coach Austin Clay said. “It’s a tough situation to come into. It feels like the air has been sucked out of the place. To go in there and fill it up, he did a pretty good job.”
