Elijah Blair played the role of the number nine hitter to perfection in Saturday’s state baseball quarterfinals at Lexington’s Legends Field.
The Owensboro Catholic senior doubled with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, allowing the Aces to flip the lineup and hand Hopkinsville a 2-1 loss when Houston Flynn singled home Blair.
The Aces move into next weekend’s semifinal against McCracken County while denying Hoptown its first trip to the baseball final four since 1950.
It was a stunning loss for the scrappy Tigers, who were ahead 1-0 and two innings away from winning its second state tournament game in as many days.
Lefty J.J. Thompson, who saw an inflated pitch count early, had settled down to retire eight straight Owensboro Catholic batters heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Brady Atwell opened the sixth with an opposite-field home run to tie the game at 1-1.
With Thompson’s pitch count approaching the maximum allowed 120, he got a ground out and a strike out to open the inning. On his 120th and final pitch, Thompson served up the double to Blair and then gave way to Gavin Mitchell.
Flynn ripped a line drive single to left field on the second pitch he saw to score Blair and set off the Owensboro Catholic celebration that gave the Aces their second walk-off win in as many days. On Friday, Mason Moser’s RBI hit in the ninth inning sent Owensboro Catholic past Corbin 5-4.
Thompson was named to the All-Tournament team after allowing four hits and two earned runs in 6.2 innings. He struck out nine and walked three. He also had one of Hoptown’s two hits and scored the only run in the first inning after he singled and scored on a Dylan Sweeney double down the right-field line.
“Early on, it felt like he was behind in every count and you could call it jitters or whatever, but it’s hard to pitch behind a count every at-bat. But he still competed. That’s what J .J. does. He got there and competed,” said Hoptown coach Malcolm Tipler. “Later in the game, I think about 80 pitches in, he was throwing his best.”
For the second straight game, Hopkinsville jumped ahead early with a first-inning run. However, Owensboro Catholic pitcher Barrett Evans settled down and didn’t allow a hit after Sweeney’s early RBI single. He struck out three and didn’t walk a batter. He also coaxed 14 ground outs and a double play, setting down 19 of the final 20 batters he faced in a 75-pitch performance.
After scuffling through a four-game losing streak at the end of April, Hopkinsville won seven of its final 10 games to finish with a 23-10 record.
The loss also marked the final game for seniors Zach Moss, Lucas Kaetzel, and J.J. Thompson.
“This was a fun group to coach. Our seniors played hard and they upheld the culture here in how they played,” Tipler said. “The way that they treated all the kids on the team, the way that they led, the way they did everything on and off the field was outstanding. I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I appreciate the seniors.”
After the loss, Tipler gathered his team in the outfield with a message.
“I told them to get back in the warehouse and remember this year. Remember all the memories and remember what it felt like to be in games like this and to be in situations like this,” he said. “It’s going to be a different team (next year) but they have to remember how this felt and remember the good things and the bad things this year and learn from it.”
