YSE FIle Photo
A split for the Lyon County Lyons in their trip to Owensboro Saturday for a pair of games. The Lyons had one get away from them in a 9-8 loss to University Heights Academy in the opener. Lyon County came back and picked up a hard-fought 3-2 win over Owensboro Catholic in a much cleaner effort in their second game of the day.
In the first game of the day against the Blazers, UHA scored three times in the top of the seventh to complete a comeback from five runs down as the Blazers were the glad recipients of Lyon County generosity in a 9-8 win in a game between two teams expected to contend for the 2nd Region title.
Lyon County jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the game with a run in the bottom of the first and four runs in the bottom of the second. Two Blazer errors set the stage for the big second inning for Lyon County.
In a precursor of things to come, UHA got on the board in the top of the third on a bases-loaded walk to Cadence Gibson, cutting the lead to 5-1. A Lyon County error and a wild pitch later in the inning allowed the Blazers to score three more runs and make it a 5-4 game.
Courtland Gibson drove in Bryson Turner with a bunt single in the top of the fourth to even things up at 5-5.
Lyon County seemed to get the momentum going back in its direction in the bottom half of the inning. Eli Baker drove in two runs with a double to center. Korben Lucas followed that with a double to center to then score Baker, and it was suddenly back to a three-run Lyon County lead at 8-5.
A bases-loaded walk to Hayden Hunt in the top of the 5th brought the Blazers to within 8-6.
The final UHA rally in the top of the seventh started with a hit batter, a double, and a walk to load the bases. Hayden Hunt drove in a run with a single to make it 8-7. Cadence Gibson walked and it was 8-8. A Lyon County error allowed Ryan Luckey to score and put UHA up 9-8.
Lyon County got runners to first and second in the bottom of the seventh but could not get anything started beyond that as Cadence Gibson closed the door for the game.
The Lyons outhit the Blazers 9 to 4 in the game, but Lyon County pitching had trouble finding the plate, as the Lyons gave up 14 walks for the game. On the other side of the coin, the Lyons pitchers had 15 strikeouts for the day.
Hayden Hunt was 2-2 for UHA with three walks, 2 RBIs, and a run scored. Ryan Luckey was 0-1 but walked four times and ended up scoring two runs.
Eli Baker was 2-4 with a double and three RBIs for Lyon County. Korben Lucas was 2-3 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. Hudson Phillips was 2-3 with a double, two RBIs, and two runs scored.
Cadence Gibson got the win in relief for the Blazers (3-1), going the last six innings and giving up three runs on five hits, striking out eight and walking two.
Peyton Williams got a no-decision in the start for the Lyons. He went three innings, giving up four runs, just two of them earned, on one hit, striking out 8 and walking five.
The second game of the day saw the Lyons take the lead in the first inning and never give it back as they took the 3-2 win over the Aces.
After back-to-back walks to Austin Spears and Peyton Williams, John Bingham drove in the first run of the game with a single to center.
The score remained 1-0 until the top of the third when Austin Spears doubled and then scored on a double from Peyton Williams to give the Lyons a 2-0 lead.
The Aces cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Lyons came right back in the top of the 5th. Eli Baker led off the inning with a single and later scored on a ground out from Austin Spears.
Brady Atwell led off the bottom of the 5th with a triple for the Aces and then scored on a ground out to get it back to a one-run game at 3-2.
This time, however, there would be no letting an opponent come back as the Lyons set down 9 of the next 10 batters to secure the win.
Lyon County outhit the Aces 5 to 4 for the game. Eli Baker, Austin Spears, Peyton Williams, John Bingham, and Turner Hurst had one hit each for the Lyons (3-1).
Eli Baker got the start and the win for Lyon County. He went three innings, giving up no runs on three hits, striking out four and walking three. Payson Oliver got the save for the Lyons.
