Aces edge DC for walk-off win

Jaxson White went 3-for-4 at the plate and pitched three scoreless innings, Brady Atwell drove in three runs, and Mason Moser drove in the walk-off run as Owensboro Catholic claimed a 7-6 high school baseball victory over Daviess County on Thursday at Chautauqua Park’s Independence Bank Field.

White, who also recorded a double, drove in a run and scored once offensively for the Aces (16-5, 4-1 9th District), struck out six batters and allowed only one hit with a walk over the final three innings.

“We did kick it around, and we didn’t pitch very well in the first four innings,” said OCHS head coach Jody Hamilton, whose team trailed 6-5 and had two errors after the first four frames, “but the last three innings, we pitched really well.

“For an eighth-grader, (White) can be really good. He’s good now, but he can be really good someday. I was really happy that we came back. They gave us more than what we wanted, I know that. You never want anybody to just hand it to you, so this was good for us to learn. And, luckily, we won ugly.”

Daviess County (12-12, 1-3) opened the game’s scoring in the top of the first inning when Lucas Ward hit a leadoff single and scored two batters later on Brody Brubaker’s RBI base hit.

The Aces responded in the bottom of the frame, with Eli Blair leading off with a double, advancing to third base on White’s single and then scoring on Brady Atwell’s fielder’s choice ground out to second. Despite facing a bases-loaded situation with only one out, DC forced consecutive outs to preserve the tie.

The Panthers struck for a trio of runs in the second after Sean Page drew a leadoff walk and then scored on Brett Poole’s RBI double. Later in the inning, Logan Mewes drove in a pair of runs with a base hit to left field for a 4-1 edge.

Catholic took its first lead with two runs in each of the second and third frames. White clubbed an RBI single and then scored on Atwell’s RBI double in the second, followed in the third by Barrett Evans hitting a double before later scoring on a passed ball. Moser was hit by a pitch, stole second and then scored on a balk to give Catholic a 5-4 lead.

It didn’t take long for DC to retake the lead, with Mewes drawing a bases-loaded walk and Brubaker clubbing an RBI base hit for a 6-5 advantage in the top of the fourth.

Neither team struck again until the bottom of the sixth.

White smacked a leadoff double, allowing courtesy runner Houston Flynn to then steal third base and score on Atwell’s game-tying sacrifice fly.

Catholic closed the game in the seventh after Heistand was hit by a pitch. Flynn, back in as a courtesy runner, stole second, advanced to third on a DC error and then scored the walk-off run on Moser’s base hit to center field.

Atwell and Moser each produced two hits for Catholic.

Brubaker went 4-for-4 to pace the Panthers, while Poole went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs.

“I thought both teams played well, and Brett Poole did a good job of just coming in and battling (during middle relief innings),” DCHS coach Austin Clay said. “He’s just a competitor when he gets in the game; he’s going to compete and give you a shot to win.

“We made some mistakes at costly times that gave them some baserunners. Against good teams, you can’t do that and get away with it.”

Catholic returns to action at the All ‘A’ Classic state tournament against Walton-Verona on Saturday, while DC is off until Tuesday’s trip to Henderson County.

DAVIESS COUNTY 130 200 0 — 6 9 1

OWENSBORO CATHOLIC 122 001 1 — 7 10 2

WP-White. LP-Hagan. 2B-Atwell, Evans, Blair, White (OC), Poole (DC).