It took nearly five and a half hours and the teams combined to send thirteen different players to the mound on Sunday night as the Hoptown Hoppers held on for a 5-4 victory over the host Paducah Chiefs. The contest fell just short of the longest in Hopper history, an 18-inning victory over Madisonville in 2015.
The Hoppers improve to 3-1 with their second victory over Paducah in as many days and will hit the road on Tuesday to face the Madisonville Miners.
As was the case in Hoptown’s 5-3 win on Saturday, both teams’ starting pitchers were stingy, and the game was scoreless through five frames. Marcus Goodpastor went six innings for Hoptown, scattering three hits with a walk and six strikeouts before giving way to Jacob Dilday.
The Hoppers broke through in the 6th with a solo home run by Anthony Smith, but the Chiefs tied things up with a run in the bottom of the 7th.
Neither team would cross the plate again until the top of the 12th when Fred Fernandez came through with a two-out double to give the Hoppers a 2-1 advantage.
With the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the inning, the Hoppers were two strikes away from a victory, but a hit-by-pitch brought in the tying run to extend the game.
After three more scoreless innings, Hunter Hyden and Ren Tachioka singled to start the 16th for the Hoppers. A two-out walk loaded the bases, and it was Fernandez again delivering the big hit with a double to drive in three runs.
Dylan Brown took the mound for Hoptown to try to close out the victory but ran into some two-out trouble when Kyler Carmack was hit by a pitch for the second time. Former Caldwell County Tiger Cody Holub followed with a single to put runners at the corners before Gage Griggs drove in both with a single to cut the lead to one.
David Ernst came on to face Paducah’s Griggs and coaxed a pop out in foul territory to finally end the game.
Dilday allowed a single unearned run on two hits with three walks and seven strikeouts over four innings. Blake Sarjent earned the win for the Hoppers, giving up a run with three walks and a pair of strikeouts.
Fernandez finished 3/3 at the plate with four RBI to lead Hoptown. Hyden and Tachioka each hit safely twice.
Paducah starting pitcher Kailen Hamson lasted six innings, surrendering an earned run on four hits while striking out six with three walks. Payton Heinley took the loss with three runs and three hits in an inning of work.
The Chiefs slipped to 0-3 and will look to pick up their first victory when they welcome Full Count Rhythm to Brooks Stadium on Tuesday.
