Lyon County’s history-making baseball run has reached the state semifinals.
Austin Long tossed a four-hitter and the Lyons got some timely at-bats while turning back Whitley County 4-2 in quarterfinal round action Thursday at the KHSAA State Baseball Tournament at Legends Field in Lexington.
With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning, Travis Yancy’s sacrifice fly to center scored Gunnar Bingham from third with the go-ahead run. Corey Cissell’s two-out single to right brought in another run to stake the Lyons to a 4-2 lead.
That was enough offense for Long, who blanked Whitley over the final five innings to send Lyon to Friday’s late semifinal game against either Louisville Trinity or Hazard.
That included a one-two-three sixth inning after the Colonels appeared to have gained the momentum in the contest.
A 4-6-3 double play got Whitley out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fifth. That brought a roar from the Colonels’ side of the field after Whitley and its fans were unhappy over several calls in the contest that did not go their way.
But Long struck out the first two batters of the sixth, then got a fly ball to center to maintain Lyon’s two-run lead.
Whitley threatened again in the top of the seventh inning when a hit batter and a two-out bloop base hit to right put runners on the corners. However, a grounder to short turned into a force out at second to end the game and keep Lyon’s season alive — now just two wins shy of a state championship.
Offensively, Lyon managed eight hits off Whitley pitching.
Jackson Shoulders was 2-for-3 with a double and scored a run.
Christian O’Daniel had a key base hit in the bottom of the first inning, driving a line-drive single into right field with the bases loaded. That plated two runs and gave the Lyons a quick 2-0 lead.
Whitley (31-10) answered in the top of the second. The Colonels loaded the bases with one out, then got a two-run double from Logan Bennett to put runners at second and third. Long got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, then catcher Brody Williams picked the lead runner off of third base for the final out of the inning.
Lyon then regained the lead in the third, and rode the pitching of Long and its defense into the Final Four of the state baseball tournament.
Lyon (30-7) has now won 10 straight games.
The Lyons and Colonels were meeting for the second time this season. Whitley took a 4-1 decision in eight innings in an April 5 game at McCracken County.
Prior to this season, Lyon had won only one game following district tournament play — a first-round contest in the 2nd Region tourney in 1987.
This year, the Lyons own three regional tournament wins, a semi-state victory over Owensboro Catholic and a state quarterfinal triumph over Whitley County.
The Lyons will play in the 8:30 p.m. Eastern time semifinal Friday. The opening semifinal at 5:00 will have 1st Region champion McCracken County facing Danville.
