Glasgow, Ky- To be such a leisurely game, things can happen in a hurry during a baseball game. Allen County-Scottsville third baseman Cory Cooper's three-run shot over the right field wall in the 5th inning got out of Trojan Field in a hurry to give the Patriots a 5-1 lead in the championship game of the 15th district tournament. And the Patriots 6-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh evaporated in a hurry after a throwing error allowed two Glasgow Scotties to score and the batter Dean Glass to advance all the way to third base. Glass scored on a fielders choice, and just like that, without a hit, the Scotties had forced extra innings.
But Devin Stovall's sweet swing stroked a curve ball to left field for a lead off single in the ninth and he scored three batters later on Cooper's one out single through the right side as the Patriots defended their district title with an 8-6 win.
The Patriots got the scoring underway in the first on pitcher Chris Ogles' two out single that plated Justin Spears who was courtesy running for catcher Seth Peay.
The Scotties tied the game at one in the fourth on one of three Parker Cash singles on the night.
Junior Eli Weaver walked with one out in the Patriot fifth, stole second and moved to third on a Devin Stovall fly ball. Patriot center fielder Dylan Riggs then lifted a double over the left fielders head, Peay drew a walk and Cooper's blast gave the Patriots a four run lead.
But the Scotties plated two in the bottom of the fifth on only one hit. Catcher Kory Stone singled with one out and the next three Scotties drew walks including a bases loaded base on balls to two-hitter Brock Johnson. Dean Glass followed with a run scoring ground out to third.
The Patriots missed an opportunity to break the game open in the sixth. Shortstop Matt Hobdy and first baseman Tracy Woods led off with singles and Weaver singled in Hobdy. Stovall then walked to load the bases with one out for the hot hitting Riggs. However, the speedy lefty ripped a tailor made double play ball to the second baseman who tagged the runner and barely gunned Riggs out at first.
The Scottie's three run comeback in the seventh started when Weaver hit lead off hitter Tyler Howard and walked Brock Johnson. Cooper then fielded Glass' bunt cleanly but threw a ball in the dirt that skipped by Woods. Cooper chased the ball down himself down the first field line, but not before two runs had scored.
Patriot Sophomore first baseman Woods made one of the biggest plays of the year to end that seventh. With the winning run on third for the Scotties and two out, Stone hit a routine chopper to third. Again the throw across was in the dirt but Woods made a classic one-hop scoop to perserve the tie.
Weaver relieved starter Ogles in the sixth and hurled 4 innings of outstanding baseball, giving three unearned runs and striking out 5.
Cooper went three for four with a walk, a stolen base, and 4 RBI. Peay reached base four times with two singles and two walks.
The Scotties (25-10) and Patriots (21-6) both advance to the first round of the Fourth Regional tournament at Western Kentucky University starting on Monday.
The drawing for the tournament will be held Saturday, June 4th at 11:00 a.m. at Warren East High School. District champions will be paired with district runner-ups with no same district teams meeting in the first round.
Other district winners were: from the 16th Russell County (28-8), from the 14th Warren Central (27-9), and from the 13th Russellville (20-7). The Patriots will battle one of the runners-up which are: from the 16th Metcalfe County (9-18), from the 14th Bowling Green (22-12), and from the 13th Logan County (14-20).
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