Despite trailing hosts Christian County twice on Friday by as many as four runs, the University Heights Academy baseball team kept battling back and posted five runs over the final two frames to knock off the Colonels 7-6 and avenge last week’s 5-2 setback.
The Blazers’ win leaves both teams at 5-1 in 8th-District play, halting the Colonels’ three-game winning streak in the series.
After hitting the first batter he faced, Christian County’s Gage Montes didn’t allow another baserunner until a fourth-inning walk. The Colonels erased that runner with a double play and broke through in the bottom of the frame on Bobby Irving’s two-run single.
Josh Pace’s one-out double got the Blazers started in the top of the fifth, and Hayden Hunt doubled to center to drive in a run, followed by an RBI single by Cadence Gibson.
A string of RBI singles in the fifth by Preston Phan, Sebastian Dazey, and Irving seemed to put the Colonels in control with a four-run advantage, but it was all UHA the rest of the way.
The Blazers opened the top of the sixth with a pair of singles before a Colonel error allowed a run to come home. After a run on a passed ball, Pace singled to drive in another and cut the deficit to 6-5.
Down to their final out with runners on second and third, Aiden Jones reached on an error to bring in a pair of runs and give the Blazers their first lead of the night. After coming on in relief with one out in the fifth, UHA’s Jaiden Miles retired the Colonels in order in the bottom of the seventh to nail down the victory.
Miles earned his third win of the season, allowing a pair of earned runs on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Pace worked the first three frames for the Blazers, exiting after surrendering two earned runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Bryson Turner worked an inning and a third in between, giving up two earned runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts.
After being an out away from a complete-game win, Gage Montes took the loss for the Colonels after allowing six earned runs on ten hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Irving was two for three at the plate with three RBI to lead Christian County, followed by Dazey, Carter Sholar, and Jacob Jenkins with two hits each.
Pace and Courtland Gibson led UHA with two hits each, and four Blazers drove in a run.
UHA improved to 12-8-1 ahead of a visit from Henderson County on Monday.
Christian County slipped to 7-15 and will look to bounce back on Saturday against visiting Lyon County.
