Region baseball tournament: Henry Clay gets walk-off homer; Sayre ousts LexCath
Trailing 4-3 and down to their last out against Lafayette in the 11th Region Baseball Tournament quarterfinals, the situation looked dire for Henry Clay’s No. 23 Blue Devils at Legends Field early Monday afternoon.
“With two outs and nobody on base … you just need base runners, and we were able to get two guys on base,” Henry Clay coach Jordan Tarrence said, outlining the situation for his best hitter, senior JT Ritchie, after Parker Mays got hit by a pitch and Garrett O’Donnell walked. “I was hoping he would get a base hit and tie it.”
Ritchie instead launched the second pitch of his at-bat over the left-field fence for a walk-off three-run home run to give the Blue Devils a thrilling 6-4 victory in the first of four quarterfinals on Monday at Legends Field.
Both Henry Clay, the 42nd District champions, and Sayre, the district’s runner-up, won their games in their final at-bat on Monday. The Spartans topped Lexington Catholic 2-1 in the final quarterfinal of the day at Legends Field with the last out recorded just before 10 p.m. Henry Clay made its first pitch at 10 a.m.
Ritchie said he never doubted his team could come out on top despite trailing 3-0 in the third and 4-2 in the fifth. The Blue Devils clawed back runs in the bottom half of each of those innings to get the margin to 4-3 for their final at-bat.
“I believe in our guys, everyone in our dugout,” Ritchie said. “They’ve got to get 21 outs. Our team fully believes that. If we just get a couple of people on base, we know we can score — two outs, one out, no outs.”
Ritchie finished 3 for 3 with two doubles, a home run, four RBI and two runs scored.
“That’s the single best game I’ve ever seen a player play,” Tarrence said. “And he picked a good time to have it.”
Ritchie shared credit for the game-winner.
“Shout out to my teammates. They got me on base,” Ritchie said. “They were telling me (Lafayette reliever Jackson) Cox was throwing a lot of curve balls. So, I went up to the plate expecting a curve ball. He threw it where I could hit it, and I just hit it on my barrel.”
The win sends Henry Clay (29-10) to Tuesday’s 11th Region semifinals where it will face Great Crossing at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester at 5:30 p.m.
Originally, the semis were to be played at Berea College’s Wyatt Baseball Field due to the Lexington Legends having a home game, but the weeklong rain with more expected Tuesday, forced a decision to move the games to Clark, which has a fully artificial surface.
The 11th Region Softball Tournament is also being played at Clark. The baseball tournament will return to Lexington’s professional ballpark on Wednesday for the championship game.
Lafayette (15-18) gave starting pitcher Jacob Carpenter a 3-0 lead in the third inning after consecutive singles by Micah Joy, Harrison Stephens and Tyler Collins set up a sacrifice fly for Caden Herron and two-run single with two outs by Zach Eversole.
Henry Clay answered in the bottom of the third when Ritchie hit a two-out RBI double with Jax Vires aboard via hit-by-pitch. Ritchie advanced to third and then home on wild pitches to trim the margin to 3-2. Each team scored a run in the fifth to set the late-stage drama.
Carpenter allowed three runs on four hits and walked two with six strikeouts over six innings before Cox took over and got the first two outs of the seventh.
Turner Sparks started for Henry Clay, allowing four runs on five hits and five walks. He struck out seven. Though Ritchie pitched the seventh in relief, he threw only nine pitches, which means he’s available to start Tuesday against Great Crossing.
Sayre grinds out win over Lexington Catholic
No. 6 Sayre got a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to score the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning and senior pitcher Banks Heinrich closed out a two-hitter in which he allowed only one run despite four walks in the defending region champion’s 2-1 victory over No. 4 Lexington Catholic.
“It really took a lot of grit and a lot of trust in my field, because I didn’t have that many strikeouts today and my field really helped me out,” Heinrich said.
Heinrich figured in the offense, as well, hitting a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead in the third inning and drawing an intentional walk in the seventh after a four-pitch walk to leadoff man Gary Gibson and a single by Elliot Jansky.
Lexington Catholic starter Eamon Hughes hit Sayre’s Tripp Winton in the thigh five pitches later, sending Gibson across the plate for a 2-1 lead.
“I was getting really hyped on the bench and my coach was telling me to stop getting so hyped because I’d use up all my energy for the last inning, but it was really an exciting time,” Heinrich said. “I didn’t think they were going to put me on, but I’m glad they did. It worked out.”
Lexington Catholic (28-9) escaped further damage with a double play to end the frame, but could not muster a threat against Heinrich in the bottom half of the inning. Heinrich got a strikeout, a pop out and fly out to seal it.
Earlier in the game, Lexington Catholic answered Heinrich’s third-inning sacrifice fly with a run in the bottom half that was set up by a Baird Woodall single, a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a confusing fielder’s choice play in which Sayre failed to secure an out on Jake Scott’s ground ball to third base.
“We knew we were going to have our hands full from the get-go,” Sayre coach Kevin Clary said. “I’m just super-proud of their resilience, their toughness and their character. We’ve been working hard since Feb. 15. … You’ve got to win close games like this to move on.”
Sayre (24-9) will face No. 17 Madison Central in the 8 p.m. semifinal Tuesday in Winchester.
Monday’s other region baseball quarterfinals
Madison Central 2, Frankfort 0: The No. 17 Indians (25-11) capitalized on a walk and an error in the sixth inning by Panthers starter Will Beshear, scoring the game’s first run on a passed ball and getting an RBI single from Braxton H for the final margin.
Lucas, Brody and Teilor combined for a three-hit shutout for Madison Central. Lucas got the win for 5 1/3 innings of work. He gave up two hits and four walks and struck out eight. Beshear went the distance for Frankfort (17-16), allowing only three hits, but issuing six walks. He struck out five.
Great Crossing 5, Madison Southern 2: Warhawks sophomore right hander Parker Covington allowed just two runs on three hits and sat the last 16 Madison Southern batters down in order after a shaky first inning against the Eagles.
Great Crossing (16-15) rallied to the lead in the third inning after a pair of Madison Southern errors and hits by Levi Hamon and Covington combined with an RBI walk by Eli Adkins and a sacrifice fly by Brayden Beckett for a 3-2 advantage. Back-to-back doubles by Collier Curtis and Tyler Mullanix tacked on another run in the fourth. A bases-loaded walk drawn by Adkins in the fifth set the final margin.
Madison Southern (17-17) got a leadoff double by Trey Helton, and an RBI single by Bryan Brock in the first ahead of an RBI single by Griffin Brack for its two runs.
11th Region Baseball Tournament
Monday’s quarterfinals
At Legends Field, Lexington
Henry Clay 6, Lafayette 4.
Great Crossing 5, Madison Southern 2.
Madison Central 2, Frankfort 0.
Sayre 2, Lexington Catholic 1.
Tuesday’s semifinals
At George Rogers Clark High School, Winchester
5:30 p.m.: Henry Clay vs. Great Crossing.
8 p.m.: Madison Central vs. Sayre.
Wednesday’s final
At Legends Field, Lexington
6:30 p.m.: Championship game.
