Corey Cissell allowed just one base hit through six innings, then got relief help from Jackson Shoulders as Lyon County advanced at the state All A Classic baseball tournament on Saturday.
Down 5-0, Hazard rallied in the top of the seventh, scoring three times and loading the bases with two outs.
With the potential tying run at second and the go-ahead run at first, Shoulders got a ground ball to third to end the game.
Austin Spears fielded the hopper and stepped on third base for the game-ending force out as the Lyons claimed a 5-3 win in quarterfinal round action.
Lyon has an early wakeup call for Sunday’s semifinals. The Lyons (18-3) will take on Pikeville (17-7) at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. The Panthers advanced with a 4-1 triumph over Glasgow in Saturday’s first quarterfinal game.
Lyon got an early jump on Hazard (19-5), thanks to a leadoff walk by Gunnar Bingham in the bottom of the first inning. Brody Williams followed with another walk, and both runners moved up on a passed ball. Turner Hurst then grounded out to shortstop, but Bingham was able to scoot home on the throw to give the Lyons a 1-0 lead.
That’s where things stayed until the fifth thanks to Cissell and Hazard starter Sawyer Patrick.
The Lyons scratched out another run in the bottom of the fifth when Bingham tripled into the corner with one out and scored on a single by Williams. That doubled the advantage at 2-0.
A three-run sixth then seemingly had Lyon in command.
Eli Baker’s one-out single to center brought in Austin Spears, who led off the inning with a single to left. Luke Gilbert drew a walk, then Bingham singled to right to plate Baker and make it 4-0. Williams singled home another run to extend the margin to 5-0.
That looked to do it for Lyon, especially with the way Cissell had handled the Bulldogs for six innings.
But a leadoff walk, a single and an error put Hazard on the scoreboard, making it 5-1 and opening the door for the Bulldogs.
A one-out single by Evan Akemon loaded the bases. But Cissell struck out the next batter for the second out, and again Lyon looked to be in great shape.
However, back-to-back walks forced in two runs to cut the margin to 5-3, with the bases still loaded.
That forced Lyon to bring in Shoulders, who threw just three pitches to get the final out of the game.
Cissell (1-1) struck out 10 in the contest while allowing just three base hits. He did walk four, but the three runs he allowed were all unearned.
Shoulders picked up his second save of the season.
Offensively, Williams was 3-for-3 with a double and two runs batted in. Williams just missed a home run down the left-field line early in the game, when his shot cleared the 335-feet mark but was just foul.
Bingham was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored as part of Lyon’s 10-hit attack.
The Lyons have won four straight games and eight of their last nine.
Lyon has never played in the state All A Classic championship game. The Lyons reached the semifinals in 2019 before falling to Beechwood.
