KHSAA Baseball: Day 5

Bad night for Louisville in the semi-finals:

Central Hardin 8, Lou. St. Xavier 6

Central Hardin (which was formed from the combination of West Hardin and East Hardin back in 1990) drove St. X pitcher (and Western Kentucky signee) Ian Thompkins from the mound after only two innings, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. But St. X responded with four runs in the bottom of the second to make the score 6-4. Central Hardin made the score 7-4 in the top of the fourth, but St. X loaded the bases with only one out in the bottom of the fourth. However, Central Hardin induced a pop-up and a fly out, and maintained their lead. In the bottom of the fifth, St. X had runners on first and second with one out, but the next batter hit a line drive to first, which turned into an unassisted double play as the runner couldn't get back to the bag in time. Central Hardin went up 8-4 in the top of the sixth, but St. X cut the lead to 8-5 in the bottom of that inning. At this point, the storms came through and the game was delayed for over an hour. In the bottom of the seventh (remember we play seven innings in high school baseball), St. X cut the lead to 8-6 and had the winning run at the plate with two outs. But the batter grounded to second and the game was over.

Mercer Co. 5, Lou. Pleasure Ridge Park 4

Mercer Co. (which absorbed Harrodsburg High in 2006) pulled out an unbelievable win over PRP, which appeared to be cruising through most of the game. With two out and nobody on in the bottom of the seventh, PRP's pitcher Hunter Johnson had two strikes on the batter and a 4-1 lead. Up to that point, in fact, he had been pitching a three-hitter. Now remember that at this point, because of the rain delays, it is around midnight -- a pretty unusual time for high school baseball. Here's what happened next:

On a 3-2 count, Seth Heath drew a walk.

Adam Gooch hit a single, putting runners on first and second.

Austin Horn, batting 9th, hit a grounder to the shortstop, who tried to force the runner at second. But Gooch beat the shortstop to second. He was safe and the bases were loaded.

John Ingram hit a grounder to short, but this time the shortstop tried to throw the ball to second. His throw was bad, leading to a two-base two-run error. Now the score was 4-3 and Mercer had runners on second and third.

Clay Cinnamon (what a great name) hit a long fly to right that should have ended the game for PRP. Instead, it ended the game for Mercer, as the PRP right fielder DROPPED THE BALL. The runners scored and the game was over.

I usually root against the Louisville schools, but that is one of the saddest stories I've ever heard.

So we are all set for the final game of the KHSAA season:

Central Hardin (35-4) v. Mercer Co. (28-9)