After using pitchers J.J. Thompson, Gavin Mitchell, and Lucas Kaetzel to reach the regional championship game Wednesday night, the Hopkinsville Tigers were needing a big effort from pitcher Andrew Mayes to try and win the title against the University Heights Academy Blazers. And that is just what Mayes gave them.
The sophomore hurler went the distance in more ways than one as the Hopkinsville Tigers won their third regional championship in the last 10 years with a thrilling 6-5 win over the Blazers in front of a packed and loud house at Hopkinsville High School.
After getting into a jam in the top of the seventh, Mayes got Josh Pace to ground out to Zach Moss with the bases loaded to end the game and send the Tiger dugout charging onto the field. The pitch that Mayes threw to get the final out brought him to his pitch count limit for the night. If the game had continued, Mayes would not have been able to face another batter.
Mayes had to work hard in the final inning to get the Tigers to the title. With Hopkinsville up 6-4 going into the final inning, Mayes hit the first two batters of the inning, Jaiden Miles and Ryan Luckey, to get the tense 7th inning underway. He was then called for a balk to advance the runners to 2nd and 3rd with nobody out.
Hayden Hunt hit a fly ball to right field that enabled Miles to score, avoiding the tag on a bang-bang play at the plate, cutting the lead to 6-5, and igniting the hopes of another comeback among the Blazer fans, who had seen their team rally from behind not once, but three times in the 8th inning or later in the UHA win over Henderson County in Tuesday night’s semifinals.
Cadence Gibson then walked to put runners at the corners, but not for long as Gibson immediately stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position.
Jackson Flynn hit a fly ball to short right that was caught by Gavin Mitchell, but the ball was not hit deep enough to give Ryan Luckey a chance to try and tag up and score from third base. Mayes then intentionally walked Courtland Gibson to load the bases with two outs.
The Blazers’ threat and their title hopes ended when Josh Pace grounded out to end the game.
UHA had gotten on the board first in the game in the top of the second. Jaiden Miles grounded into a fielder’s choice with one out that scored Josh Pace to put the Blazers up early 1-0. Ryan Luckey followed that up with a two-run single to right, and the lead was up to 3-0 with the Blazer fans roaring their approval.
Hopkinsville came right back in the bottom half of the inning. Layton Lindsey singled to drive in Chase Fort, cutting the lead to 3-1. J.J. Thompson followed that by getting around on a pitch and simply crushing a shot over the right field fence that gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead after two, a lead they would not give back in this one.
Hopkinsville got some much-needed insurance in the bottom of the 4th when Zach Moss singled to left, scoring Griffen Meacham and making it a 5-3 game. Later in the same inning, Gavin Mitchell walked with the bases loaded as the lead moved to 6-3.
UHA got one of the runs back in the top of the 5th when Ryan Luckey stole home and trimmed the lead to 6-4 and that was where the score would reside until the final inning.
Zach Moss led the way for the Tiger offense, which finished the night with six hits. Moss was 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. J.J. Thompson was 1-4 with the three-run homer. Layton Lindsey ended up 1-2 with an RBI and a run scored.
For UHA, Hayden Hunt, Courtland Gibson, Aiden Jones, Jaiden Miles, and Ryan Luckey had one hit each. Luckey also had 2 RBIs.
Winning pitcher Andrew Mayes gave up five runs on five hits, striking out four and walking five.
Cadence Gibson was charged with the loss for the Blazers. He went three innings, giving up five runs on five hits, striking out three and walking four.
One has to wonder if the Blazers got a little leg weary at times during the game after playing ten innings and finishing just before midnight Tuesday night in the semifinal win over Henderson County. UHA had also used four pitchers in Tuesday night’s win, putting some limitations on their pitching options for the championship game.
For the Tigers, they improve to 22-9 with the win and head off to the state baseball tournament. Hopkinsville will face off against the 14th Region champion next Friday, June 7, at Legends Field in Lexington. The 14th Region championship is set for Thursday night.
