State baseball: ‘If he beats us, he beats us.’ Late dice roll sends PRP past LexCath.
With the bases loaded and no outs recorded in the bottom of the decisive frame, Pleasure Ridge Park coach Brad Burns did what he’d done since the start of the game: left his freshman on the mound.
Joey Dudeck rewarded that trust and finished a complete game in thrilling fashion to send PRP to the semifinals of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Baseball State Tournament. The Panthers (38-3) eliminated Lexington Catholic 8-6 in Saturday’s last quarterfinal at Legends Field.
“There was a little discussion, but I wanted to finish the game,” Dudeck said. “… I was scared, I was nervous.”
After the Knights (27-12) scored on a PRP fielding error and loaded the bases, Dudeck struck out the next batter he faced, then lured the subsequent hitter into a pop-up. Finally, with LexCath star Owen Jenkins at the plate, the Panthers faced another decision: go at him or intentionally walk him?
As crazy as it might sound, Burns considered it.
“He’s one of the best hitters I’ve seen in high school baseball in Kentucky,” Burns said of Jenkins, a .468 hitter coming into the game. “You have to do what you feel is best, in the moment, to try to win the game.”
Dudeck worked Jenkins into a 3-2 count, relying on his slider to befuddle the junior opposite him. Jenkins swung at the third straight such pitch and failed to connect, halting the Knights’ rally.
“You roll the dice and see what happens,” Burns said. “If he beats us, he beats us. It just so happened we were fortunate to get him out in that situation.”
As tough as they seemed to get in the final frame, outs were at even more of a premium in the early going. The teams combined for 13 runs and 12 hits over the first two and a half innings before things settled down considerably. After yielding four hits through LexCath’s first two at-bats, Dudeck surrendered that many the rest of the way. He flirted with the pitch-count limit, ending with 114 balls thrown against 38 total batters.
Jenkins gave LexCath its lone lead, 5-4, on a two-run blast over the left-field wall in the bottom of the second. He singled in the first inning and was walked intentionally in his next two turns at the plate after the homer.
LexCath coach Scott Downs was a bit surprised that Burns didn’t intentionally walk Jenkins in his final go.
“Their pitcher stepped up and made a pitch when he needed to make it,” Downs said. “That’s baseball. I tell you right now, give us that situation again, 10 out of 10 times, I promise you it won’t end like that. That’s just the way baseball is. It’s a funny game. You get walked intentionally twice with the bases empty and then you pitch to him with the bases loaded and get out of it. That’s baseball.”
Downs’ disappointment for his team will take some time to subside, but he’ll mine some solace knowing that their season ended at the hands of his alma mater and Burns, a former PRP teammate. Both coaches were complimentary of the other in their postgame scrums.
The Panthers will play No. 1 Trinity in the semifinals on Friday. Will that be enough time for Downs to shake off the loss and throw his unwavering support behind the Ridge?
“Maybe,” Downs said with a laugh. “Maybe.”
Owensboro Catholic 2, Hopkinsville 1: A pair of two-out hits in the bottom of the seventh enabled the Aces (31-7) to advance to their first semifinal since they won the state title in 1985.
Elijah Blair connected on a double on the last pitch thrown by Hoptown starter JJ Thompson, who hit the pitch-count limit on that throw.
“I was gonna find a way on base no matter what,” Blair said. “If I had to take one, I was gonna take one. Obviously I was looking for a fast ball, got it up and in, and I just got on time with it.”
Gavin Mitchell came aboard in relief and dealt a strike to Houston Flynn, but OCath’s top-of-the-order hitter struck the next ball and sent it into left field to drive home Blair, who quickly was mobbed by teammates at home plate.
“I’ve been in this situation before, so it wasn’t really nothing new to me,” Flynn said. “I was just staying composed, made sure I kept myself calm and just drove for the ball.”
The Tigers (23-10) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Dylan Sweeney. But after recording two hits in that frame, Hoptown failed to get a baserunner aboard through the remainder.
McCracken County 4, Ryle 1: The Mustangs (33-9) advanced to the semifinals for the seventh time in the last eight state tournaments, setting up a showdown with Owensboro Catholic that guarantees a western Kentucky team will play for a state title.
Kendrick Dunning (2-for-3) drove in two runs to lead McCracken. A.J. Curry hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, giving the Raiders (32-10) their only run.
Trinity 14, Russell County 3 (5 innings): The Lakers (31-11) briefly evened things in the third inning after Trinity jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, but the state’s top-ranked team piled on 11 runs over the final two innings for a run-rule win.
Colin Sander, Kyle Campbell, Nolan Hosking and Robert Morrow each drove in two runs for the Shamrocks (38-4).
Baseball State Tournament
At Kentucky Proud Park on June 14-15.
Tickets: gofan.co/app/school/KHSAA
Streaming video ($): KHSAA.tv
Streaming audio (free): khsaa2.mixlr.com/events
FRIDAY, JUNE 14, SEMIFINALS
10 a.m.: Trinity (38-4) vs. Pleasure Ridge Park (38-3)
1:30 p.m.: McCracken County (33-9) vs. Owensboro Catholic (31-7)
SATURDAY, JUNE 15, FINALS
3:30 p.m.: Championship game
