Senior Ian Tyler had a historic effort on the bump and then watched his squad explode for seven runs in the fifth inning Monday, as University Heights Academy came from behind to down Hopkinsville 9-3 in the 8th District Baseball Tournament semifinals.
Tyler (4-2), who allowed just three hits and one earned run, finished with 15 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings to help lift the Blazers to their first district championship game appearance since 2017. Hoptown, which had played in the 8th District final every year since 2018, finishes its season 9-18.
The Heights-Hopkinsville pairing has created plenty of memorable moments during district semifinal matchups over the years, and Monday’s tilt was no different, with a pitching duel between Tyler and the Tigers’ JJ Thompson abruptly shifting to a slugfest that would ultimately decide which team would keep its season alive.
Hoptown had a perfect start to the night when Thompson — a HHS junior who transferred from Heritage Christian Academy last summer — lined the third pitch of the game over the right field fence for a leadoff home run. Thompson’s team-leading second homer of the season quickly gave his team a 1-0 lead.
After UHA went 1-2-3 in its first two at-bats, the Blazers tied the game in the bottom of the third inning after Tyler walked and scored on Luke Shouse’s RBI bunt single. Ryan Luckey kept the comeback attempt going with a two-out walk, but Thompson registered one of his seven K’s to end the threat.
Tyler kept the Blazer momentum going by fanning the Tiger side in the top of the fourth and then giving his team a 2-1 lead in the bottom half on a sacrifice fly that brought home Jaiden Miles. Tyler finished the night 0-for-1 but his moments at the dish were nearly as clutch as his effort on the mound.
Hopkinsville, which stumbled some down the stretch by losing five of its final seven regular-season games, showed plenty of fight in the fifth inning of Monday’s postseason affair. After Thomas Hallmark reached on a Heights error to start the frame, pinch runner Declan Goeddertz took second on Christopher Medina’s sacrifice bunt and scored to tie the game at 2-all on an RBI single from Dylan Sweeney.
Two pitches later, the Tigers roared ahead and took a 3-2 lead when Thompson raced home on a wild pitch to give HHS its second lead of the night. The moment would be short-lived, though, as University Heights answered with a vengeance in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
After a leadoff walk by Shouse, the duo of Luckey and Josh Pace delivered back-to-back doubles that would give UHA the lead for good at 4-3. Ben Stone kept the offensive attack going with an RBI single to make it 5-3, as the Blazers scored three times before an out was recorded in the fifth.
UHA eventually batted around during the inning, with Pace drawing a third straight Blazer walk to make it 9-3. Heights drew a total of nine bases on balls during the win, scoring nine runs on eight hits. Pace had a game-high three RBI. Seven different University Heights players had a hit; Ty Hunt had a pair.
Thompson (3-5) had the aforementioned seven strikeouts, but walked six and allowed four earned runs in four innings to take the loss. Hallmark gave up three hits, three walks and four runs in less than an inning of relief. Sweeney threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Offensively, Hoptown was led in the loss by Thompson (1-for-3, HR, two runs, RBI, walk), Sweeney (2-for-4, RBI) and Hallmark (0-for-2, walk). Caleb Brown also had a pinch-hit single to start the seventh inning, but the Tigers stranded runners at first and second to end the game and their season. Bryson Turner and Pace combined for 1 1/3 innings of hitless baseball out of the bullpen to close it out. UHA struck out a total of 16 Hoptown batters during the win.
The win by the Blazers (15-9) sets up a 6:30 p.m. showdown Tuesday with Christian County at tournament host UHA. The Blazers haven’t hoisted a district championship trophy since 2001, which is also the last time Heights defeated the Colonels (22-11) in a postseason meeting.
UHA and County split this year’s regular-season series, with both sides winning their respective games at home. The Blazers topped the Cols 10-5 on March 26, but CCHS got revenge in a 10-0 victory five days later. Regardless of Tuesday’s result, both teams automatically advance to next week’s 2nd Region Tournament.
