Lafayette-Danville showdown set. It took rallies by both in state baseball tourney.
After Lafayette’s 10-5 win over Campbell County in the “semi-state” round of the high school baseball playoffs Saturday night at Kentucky Proud Park, Generals Coach Chris Langston reflexively rapped his knuckles against the side of his head when asked to explain his team’s explosive offense this postseason.
The subtle, joking “knock on wood” gesture no doubt aims to avoid any possibility of jinxing how well Lafayette (34-7) has been playing all season. The Generals trailed 2-0 after one-half inning and 3-2 after two innings against the Camels (25-15-1) and won going away.
“We’ve had a few games that we’ve had to come back and win,” Langston said. “These seniors have decided we’re just going to play and not worry about those types of things. They just come out and compete, and they did it at the plate and finally our pitchers settled down and got some strikes when we needed it.”
Trailing 3-2 in the third inning, a big opportunity presented itself when Ethan Tuttle’s single was followed by walks to both Mason Pittman and Micah Cowen, which loaded the bases with no one out. Campbell County conferenced on the mound to try to help starter Jack Sell regroup.
Lafayette’s Ben Prather sent a two-run single to center field on the next pitch.
Prather didn’t mind the big stage or the big moment. He went 4-for-4 with four RBI and three runs scored. That included a two-run triple in the sixth inning.
“The bigger the audience the better I play, to be honest,” he said. “(The third inning hit) was huge, obviously, because it was bases loaded. I was just trying to do my job to get some runs in.”
Prather also scored on a couple of aggressive base-running plays. Later in the third inning he broke early from second base and crossed in front of the third baseman as a bouncing ball off Owen Jenkins’ bat came their way. Prather seemed to disrupt the third baseman’s timing and the throw to first base sailed wide and into right field foul territory, allowing Prather to score. In the fifth inning, Prather sprinted home from third when Campbell County’s catcher failed to secure a third strike pitch to Jenkins. As the catcher threw to first base to complete the put-out, Prather ran home and beat the throw back.
“That’s just kind of how we’ve been playing all year,” Langston said. “We try to put the pressure on the other team and see what they’re going to do. The next thing you know, we’ve got a crooked number up there and that’s what we’re looking for.”
Both teams had to deal with a three-hour storm delay and both starting pitchers showed some early nerves. Lafayette starter Connor Arnold was lifted in the fourth inning after a single and a double put runners at first and third with no outs just after the Generals took their 7-3 lead.
Enter Lafayette ace reliever Jaden Basham, who had a 0.41 ERA in the regular season with five wins and five saves (tied for the most in the state). It marked Basham’s first appearance this postseason, having not pitched in either the district or region playoffs. He got the first out on a grounder to third that Prather threw home to run down the lead runner. He then allowed an RBI single by Greg Vineyard before getting out of the inning with a pop out and a grounder.
“I’ve been pitching in big games all year, playing good teams. It’s nothing new to me,” Basham said.
Basham (6-0) allowed an earned run after a couple of walks in the sixth, but largely pitched himself out of trouble over his four innings of work.
“I wish I threw 95, but I don’t, so I’ve got to pitch to contact,” he said. “I know my defense has my back every time I’m out there.”
Lafayette’s defense helped avoid another big inning for Campbell County in the sixth after Josh Napier’s RBI single cut the lead to 8-5. Basham backed up an offline throw to third base from center field on the play and threw out Napier trying to reach second base for the second out of the inning. Campbell County stranded the remaining runner at third as Basham got a ground out from the next batter.
Napier led the Camels going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Jack Sell (2-3) got the loss.
Next, Lafayette, ranked No. 9 by Prep Baseball Report, will take on No. 2 Danville in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association state quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Legends Field.
Danville beat visiting Lafayette 7-0 earlier in the season.
“They are such a good team,” Langston said. “They put it on us pretty good, but we know we’re ready to play now. They’re just good. I can’t wait to move to the next step.”
Danville shakes nerves, tops Beechwood
It was a shaky start and a nervy finish, but No. 2 Danville got enough offense and enough breaks to defeat No. 13 Beechwood 6-4.
Pitching on what will be his home field next year as a Kentucky commit, Danville senior Christian Howe admitted he didn’t have his best stuff, but only allowed three hits and one unearned run for his ninth win of the season.
“We came out in the first inning and you could tell, we were throwing balls around everywhere,” Howe said. “Out here, we’ve got a big crowd, probably the biggest we’ve had in our lives. But after a while we kind of settled in and figured it out.”
A walk and an error set up the opening run of the game in the bottom of the first when Beechwood’s Mitchell Berger grounded into a fielder’s choice Danville couldn’t turn into a double play.
The next out seemed assured, though until Danville center fielder stumbled as he tracked a fly ball to left center. Brett Holladay’s hit was ruled a double and knocked in a run to make it a 2-0 lead for the Tigers.
Unfamiliarity with UK’s turf field caused a couple of issues for both teams.
“It’s the first time we’ve been on turf,” Howe said, noting they had practiced on a few turf fields trying to prepare, but none like UK. “There’s a difference.”
Danville quickly recovered the next inning with some help from Beechwood miscues. A hit batsman and a single put two on for Jaden Larmour who hit a comebacker to the pitcher, Berger. Berger tried to force out the lead runner at third base, but his throw sailed high and into the spacious foul ground. Two runners came home to tie the game 2-2.
Cameron Boyd put Beechwood (31-7) back in front in the third inning on a solo home run to left field.
Danville (39-3) answered again the next inning on a bizarre sequence for the Tigers. After Danville designated hitter KJ Stanfield hit a one-out double to right, Larmour was awarded first base after his bat struck the glove of catcher Brice Estep. Ethan Wood hit a chopper that tipped Berger’s glove and redirected the ball away from where shortstop Ben Meier was charging. Meier continued to try to make the play at first, but his throw went wild, allowing both Danville runners to cross the plate for a 4-3 lead.
“All year, I’ve tried to be consistent and be that spark,” Stanfield said. “A couple of games this year, we’ve got down, but we just can’t give up on ourselves.”
Run-scoring doubles by Landon Smothers in the sixth and Preston Barnes in the seventh padded the Admirals lead. Brady Braxter came on in relief and got the save for Danville after allowing a run.
“What we kind of preach and we preach it with these kids from day one, ‘these games are marathons and not sprints,’” Danville Coach Paul Morse said. “So, don’t worry about whether we get up or we get down. … You get down 2-0 and hey, we’ve got a lot of game left. Just keep plugging along, play your game, execute and we’ll be fine.”
Saturday’s other semi-state baseball scores
▪ Hazard 3, Johnson Central 2
▪ Whitley County 6, Raceland 4
▪ Collins 5, Elizabethtown 3
▪ McCracken County 5, Bowling Green 4
▪ Lyon County 4, Owensboro Catholic 3
▪ Trinity 13, DeSales 3
This week’s quarterfinals
All games at Lexington Legends Field
Wednesday
5 p.m.: Collins (28-12) vs. McCracken Co. (33-5)
8:30 p.m.: Danville (39-3) vs. Lafayette (34-7)
Thursday
5 p.m.: Lyon Co. (29-7) vs. Whitley Co. (31-9)
8:30 p.m.: Hazard (30-12) vs. Trinity (38-2)
