Playing on a baseball diamond named for his grandfather, head coach Blake Leach looked on as his Hopkinsville High School held on to win an 8-7 shootout Monday, ending Ohio County’s four-game winning streak.
The Tigers and Eagles combined to score all 15 of their runs in the first four innings, and it was ultimately Ryan Myers’ one-out run scored on a passed ball in the top of the fourth inning that held up as the game-winner. Zach Moss and Landon Snyder both added RBI groundouts in the same frame to give Hoptown a three-run cushion.
Ohio County attempted to rally in the bottom half of the inning, pulling within 8-7 of the Tigers on Brandon Davis’ two-out, two-single, but that’s when reliever Tim Cansler entered and took over. The junior pitcher, who entered the game with a 1.62 ERA, struck out Deacon Addis to end the threat and went on to toss 3 1/3 shutout innings, striking out eight and allowing just one hit out of the bullpen. Cansler struck out the final two batters he faced and put Ohio down in order to end the night.
Zach Moss, who had an uncharacteristically wild night on the mound as the Hoptown starter, helped himself out with a two-run single in the first inning, staking HHS to an early 2-0 lead. Preston Chaudoin, who finished the night with four walks, two runs, and two RBIs, gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead in the top of the second inning by drawing one of two bases-loaded free passes in the win.
The Eagles answered in a big way the next inning, however, as Clayton Goff launched a three-run home run — his first bomb of the year — to abruptly put the home team ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the second. OCHS led 5-3 when Chaudoin drew another walk with the bases loaded and Logan Durst came through with an RBI groundout to square the game at 5-all, eventually setting up the aforementioned sequence.
Moss (three) and Chaudoin (two) combined for five RBIs, while Cansler went 0-for-2 with a run and two walks. Snyder was the only Hopkinsville player with more than a single hit and helped hand Ohio’s Davis with his first pitching defeat of the 2021 campaign. Davis walked a total of eight and surrendered eight runs (six earned) in 3 1/3 innings.
Hoptown, which had lost its two previous games after winning its first eight of the season, was out-hit 7-4 but took advantage of the Eagle walks in the comeback triumph. Goff, Davis, and Jaylen Walker paced Ohio County in defeat, teaming up to go 5-of-10 with six RBIs and four runs.
The Tigers (9-2) are right back at it again on April 27, hosting University Heights Academy in an 8th District title at Tiger Field. A win would put Hopkinsville in the driver’s seat to earn the district’s No. 1 seed.
