Owensboro Catholic’s tight defense in the back half of the game paved the way for a dramatic 7-6 win over Daviess County. Mason Moser hit an RBI single out to center field to allow Houston Flynn to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
With the game tied 6-6 in the seventh inning, Parker Heistand stepped up to the plate in hopes of setting up Catholic. After getting hit by the pitch, Flynn stepped in as pinch runner on first base. Moser was then at bat, and Flynn wasted no time stealing second after the first strike. On his way there an error opened up the chance for an extra base. With Flynn now in scoring position on third, Moser hit the line drive single to center field that drove in the game-winning run.
The game was a battle from start to finish as both teams went back and forth trading runs in the early innings. The first two innings set the tone for the game as both teams scored 1 run in the opening inning. The top of the second inning saw Daviess County score 3 runs to take the lead. Brett Poole’s double drove in Gage Hagan from first for the first run, then Logan Mewes singled on a line drive to left field that batted in Poole and Ward. OCHS got two of those runs back in the bottom of the inning after Jaxson White drove in Moser with a single, and Atwell hit a double on the next at-bat to allow White to cross home.
After both teams went back and forth scoring 2 runs each in the third and fourth, White then took the mound with Catholic trailing 6-5. White had an impressive three innings as he recorded 6 strikeouts and only allowed 1 hit. His performance on the mound along with the Aces’ defense stopped DC from putting the game out of reach. Owensboro Catholic head coach Jody Hamilton praised White’s performance in the late innings as it allowed them to get the “ugly” win.
“For an eighth grader he can be really good,” he said. “He’s good now, but some days he can be really good. I was really happy that we came back. They gave us more than what we wanted; I know that. Of course, you never want anybody to just hand it to you, so this is good for us to learn. Luckily, we won ugly.”
Catholic’s defense allowed them to tie the game in the sixth before taking the 7-6 win in walk-off fashion. Daviess County head coach Austin Clay praised Poole and noted his team’s increasing proficiency at the plate, but the mistakes they made on the field will be taken advantage of by good teams such as OC.
“The last couple weeks our bats have really come alive,” he said. “I thought both teams played well. Brett Poole did a good job of just coming in there and battling. He’s just a competitor always. When he gets in the game you know he’s going to compete and give you a shot to win. We made some mistakes that cost us at times. It gave them some base runners and let them advance some bases. That’s a good team, so you can’t do that and get away with it.”
Ben Hyland and Luke Quinn also pitched for OCHS where Hyland had 1 strikeout across three innings and Quinn pitched for one inning. At the plate for the Aces, Brady Atwell led with a double, 3 RBIs and 2 hits. White hit a double and had an RBI with 3 hits, Moser had an RBI with 2 hits, and runs were scored by Eli Blair, White, Barrett Evans, Heistand and Moser.
The Panthers had 4 pitchers step on the mound throughout the game. Cameron Rickard had 1 strikeout in 2 innings, Poole pitched for 3 innings, Hagan pitched for 1, and Carter Nichols came on for the last few pitches of the game. At the plate, Poole hit a double, had 1 RBI and scored 2 runs. Logan Mewes had 2 RBIs, Brody Brubaker had an RBI with 4 hits and Lucas Ward scored 3 runs.
With this win the Aces are now 4-1 in district and the Panthers are 1-3. This heated game was just another example of how closely matched the district is this season. With each passing district game, the teams add to their tally, but Hamilton doesn’t feel any of their records will matter once the tournament itself arrives.
“When we all are competitive, we really are, but you got to understand that doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t mean anything until the district tournament rolls around because all four of us are pretty even.”
