CAMPBELLSBURG
Sectional 61 action commenced for both the Trinity Lutheran and Crothersville baseball teams at West Washington High School Wednesday night.
One team kept its title dreams alive while the other was handed an early exit.
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Cougars move on
Trinity Lutheran’s start to the postseason couldn’t have gone much better.
The Cougars (11-11) built an 8-3 lead through three innings and never looked back in a 14-3, six-inning win over West Washington.
After a scoreless first inning, a walk and Trinity error put runners on first and second base for the Senators. With one out, Bryce Brown hit the ball to right center field to put the home team up 1-0.
Trinity answered with eight runs.
After the first two Cougars batters walked, Lawson Woods singled to right field to score Tyler Goecker. Jack Marksberry followed with a sacrifice to take the lead at 2-1.
With two outs, the Senators loaded the bases with three walks. Noah Voelker then scored on an error before Josh Rowe came home on a passed ball.
Up 4-1, Trinity’s Hunter Morgan and Chris Mau both scored on a play where the Senators’ first baseman dropped a throw that would’ve been the third out. The Senators in the infield thought the baseman had caught the ball, but Trinity’s runners on second and third base scurried to home plate while the rest of the players stood still.
Following the bizarre at-bat, an RBI single by Jake Mau and passed ball score from Goecker extended Trinity’s lead to 8-1.
The Senators answered in the bottom of the fream with a two-run double by Brown, cutting it to 8-3.
In the top of the fourth, Lawson Woods led off with a single. Marksberry then came up next and slammed a triple to center field. Voelker then sacrificed with a hard ground ball to score Marksberry and put Trinity up 10-3.
Goecker scored Chris Mau with a triple and later scored on a passed ball to put the Cougars up 12-3 at the conclusion of five innings.
An interference call on a steal at home plate and passed ball led to two more Trinity runs in the sixth, ending the game by 10-run rule.
Marksberry tossed 10 strikeouts in the win on the mound.
The Cougars will meet Orleans Monday at 6 p.m. Trinity is aiming for its third sectional title in four years and sixth overall championship.
Bulldogs blow out Tigers
Crothersville managed just one hit in a 21-0, five-inning loss to Orleans in the evening’s opener.
The Bulldogs jumped on top 2-0 in the first inning without recording a hit. A pair of wild pitches by the Tigers’ Briar Robinson allowed two runners — which got on base with walks — to cross home plate.
In the second inning, the Bulldogs walked and singled to get two on base. Devyn Martin followed with a sacrifice before Brayton Clipp hit an RBI single to put Orleans up 4-0. An errant play at third base and sac fly by Evan Buechler then pushed the Bulldogs advantage to 8-0.
Two walks and a single loaded the bases with one out in the third inning for the Bulldogs. A pair of RBI singles and a wild pitch then quickly turned into four runs. The bleeding continued for the Tigers, as an error and RBI single made the deficit 16-0.
Logan Brewer replaced Robinson on the mound in the fourth inning.
After a double and single got things started for the Bulldogs in the fourth, an error and two wild pitches turned into three Bulldogs runs. A two-run single by Brayton Clipp would conclude the games scoring at 21-0.
Carson Farmer led off with a single in the bottom of the fifth inning, but he was picked off a batter later.
Martin earned the win on the mound for OHS, recording nine strikeouts in while walking one.
Brewer and Jacob James both graduate from the Tigers’ roster.
CHS finished its season 1-17 under first-year head coach Dustin Lewis.