Lyon County staged a dramatic seventh-inning comeback only to come up one run short in extra innings and fall to Henderson County 7-6 in the Second Region quarterfinals at Hopkinsville High School.
The defending region champion Colonels move on to play University Heights Academy in Tuesday’s semifinal.
Henderson County rode a strong pitching performance from senior Reed Rheinhardt before being pulled in the seventh inning after reaching his 120-pitch limit. However, his biggest throw of the night came in the ninth inning while playing first base. After two Lyon walks opened the ninth inning, Rheinhardt fielded a bunt and fired to third base to get the lead runner.
Another walk loaded the bases but freshman Cole Thompson induced a popup that Henderson catcher Jayce Hicks caught behind his head as the ball angled back to the infield. A flyout to right field ended the game and thwarted Lyon’s comeback attempt.
It was a frustrating end to a frustrating night for the Lyons, who fell behind 6-0 after two innings and stranded 12 runners – seven of those in scoring position.
Henderson County took advantage of three walks, three hits, one error, and two wild pitches to grab an early 3-0 lead.
Two more walks to open the second inning necessitated a pitching change. It didn’t stop the bleeding as Cooper Vowels belted a home run over the left field fence to double Henderson’s lead to 6-0.
Brady Belt took the mound and did yeoman’s work to keep the Colonels off the scoreboard. He pitched the next six innings of scoreless relief and struck out eight.
Lyon County got on the scoreboard in the third inning on an RBI single by Austin Spears and added one more in the fourth inning on an Eli Baker single.
Rheinhardt struck out six batters and pitched into the seventh inning as he reached his pitch limit. Brady Belt and John Bingham led off the seventh inning with singles. Following a pitching change, Belt scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 6-3. After a walk to Korben Lucas and another Henderson pitching change, Bingham scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Peyton Williams. Turner Hurst tied the game with a two-out infield single that played two.
Hicks led off the ninth inning with a single and Vowels walked. A wild pitch moved up the lead runner who scored on a double play.
Vowels finished with three hits and three RBI for Henderson County, which was outhit 10-7 by Lyon County. Thompson picked up the win in relief for the Colonels, who won their eighth straight first-round game in the region tournament. Henderson County is 23-2 in the first round since 1999.
It was the fifth straight season Lyon and Henderson have met in the region tournament with the Colonels winning four of the five meetings.
Belt had three singles for the Lyons, who also got two hits from Hurst and Spears. Lyon County, whose roster features no seniors, finishes at 22-7.
