Lyon County has seen more than its share of All A Classic hopes end at the hands of University Heights Academy.
So the fact that Lyon’s first-ever regional baseball championship came against its old nemesis had to be extra special to those in the purple and gold.
Jackson Shoulders went 4-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and was also the winning pitcher as the Lyons turned back UHA 10-6 Thursday night in the 2nd Region All A Classic championship game in Marion.
Lyon (9-5) will visit 1st Region champion Murray in an All A sectional contest on a date to be determined. Murray (7-5) blanked two-time defending champion Carlisle County 7-0 in Thursday’s 1st Region finale.
The Lyons never trailed against UHA in the 2nd Region title game after hitting the Blazers with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Jake Klueppel had a two-run double to help stake Lyon to an early 3-0 edge.
University Heights (6-6) battled back in the top of the second to tie things. Drew McGowan doubled home two runs as the Blazers tied things at 3-3.
But the Lyon offense countered with four runs in the bottom of the fourth against McGowan, who is headed to Mississippi State. Shoulders singled in the go-ahead run to make it 4-3. Aidan Rush delivered a sacrifice fly to right to put Lyon up 5-3. An infield single by Christian O’Daniel plated another run while the final run of the frame came in on a balk. That gave Lyon a 7-3 advantage.
Travis Yancy singled home a run in the bottom of the fourth to make it 8-3.
Lyon tacked on another run in the fifth when Klueppel singled leading off the frame and later came in on O’Daniel’s groundout to second.
UHA got that run back in the top of the sixth when Eston Glover was hit by a pitch to start the inning and later came in on a throwing error. That made it a 9-4 ballgame.
Lyon put together back-to-back hits with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to extend the margin to 10-4. Shoulders tripled on a deep fly ball to center. Yancy then singled to center to pick up an RBI.
Down 10-4 and down to its final at-bat, University Heights put together a seventh-inning rally that got the potential tying run to the plate. But with the bases-loaded, Shoulders coaxed a pop-up to short to end the game and give Lyon its first regional baseball championship in school history.
Shoulders took over on the mound for starter Austin Long with one out in the second and tossed the final 5.2 innings for Lyon. He allowed three earned runs on just two hits. He struck out one and walked three.
McGowan suffered the loss on the mound for UHA, allowing nine earned runs on 12 hits. He fanned five and walked two.
Yancy finished 3-for-3 offensively for Lyon with a pair of runs batted in. Klueppel was 2-for-2 with a double and drove in two runs.
McGowan was the only Blazer with more than one base hit, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Lyon finishes a busy week with a 5th District makeup game at Crittenden County on Friday, then a home date against longtime rival Caldwell County on Saturday.
UHA will visit Webster County on Friday before hosting Livingston Central Saturday afternoon.
