After seeing a four-run advantage evaporate in the 7th inning on Saturday, the Hoptown Hoppers answered with six runs over their final two at-bats to down the visiting Henderson Flash 10-4.
Gavin Lake started on the mound for the Hoppers and allowed only two batters to reach base over the first six frames, including a single in the 4th and a walk in the 6th.
The Hoppers gave Lake a lead with a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 2nd and doubled the advantage on John Kiebler’s RBI triple in the 3rd. Hadley Smith drove in a run with a ground out, and Kiebler added his second RBI on a sacrifice fly in the 5th for a 4-0 lead.
However, things began to unravel for Lake and the Hoppers in the top of the 7th. The Flash led off the inning with back-to-back singles ahead of Ian Reagan’s one-out RBI double. Dane DeWees added a run-scoring single before Henderson tied the game on a run courtesy of a Hopper error.
John McGee relieved Lake and worked one and a third scoreless innings with two strikeouts to earn the win. Lake went six and two-thirds, allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.
The Hoppers scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 7th when the Flash failed to tag a runner at third on an infield fly, allowing him to come home with no one covering home plate. Hoptown blew the game open in its next at-bat, beginning with Max Martin’s RBI single to make it 6-4. Dom Davis followed with a two-run double before Braden Pingel capped a three-hit night with an RBI single, and Sam Perkins stole home for the final run.
In the top of the 9th, two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for the Flash to make things interesting. However, the Hoppers got an out at home, and Graham Kelham struck out the final two batters to seal the win.
The Hoppers evened their record at 6-6 to move into third place, two and a half games behind the Paducah Chiefs. Hoptown will look to make it three wins in a row when they hit the road on Monday for a matchup with the Madisonville Miners.
