On Thursday, the Hoptown Hoppers continued a late-season slide with a 12-2 seven-inning setback against the host Paducah Chiefs. The Hoppers dropped to 17-20 ahead of a doubleheader against the Fulton Railroaders to wrap up the regular season on Saturday.
The Chiefs took control in their opening at-bat, chasing Hoptown starter Gavin Lake after two-thirds of an inning with an 8-0 lead. Brady Grabowski opened the scoring with an RBI single, followed by run-scoring singles by Parker Price and Colin McClure, and a two-run double by Ayden Terry.
Jordan Gonzalez had the lone RBI for the Hoppers with a 4th-inning single, and another run came in on a Chief error for a 9-2 score. However, Paducah tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the frame on singles by Colin McClure and Will Gibbs and a run courtesy of a Hopper error.
McClure and Grabowski both finished with three hits for the Chiefs, followed by Gibbs, Terry, Price, and David Limbach with two a piece.
Max Vosters earned the win on the mound for Paducah, allowing two runs, one earned, on seven hits with six strikeouts. Klayton Wright worked the final two frames with a walk, a strikeout, and four hits.
John Kiebler and Dom Davis led the way at the plate for Hoptown with three hits each, and Brayden Eftink hit safely twice. Lake took the loss, allowing eight earned runs on five hits with three walks.
The 3rd-place Chiefs improved to 21-17 and finish out the regular season at Madisonville on Friday.
