Back-to-back homers spark Lafayette in 43rd District baseball championship

For a while Monday, it looked as if Lafayette’s baseball team might have used up all its offense in a 15-0 three-inning victory over Paul Laurence Dunbar in the 43rd District semifinals a day earlier.

But trailing Lexington Christian 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning in the district championship game, Lafayette’s bats woke up.

Jack Harris and Carter Owens, who happen to share May 31 birthdays, smashed back-to-back home runs to tie the game. An inning later, the Generals scored three more and starting pitcher Micah Cowen closed out the 5-3 win in front of an overflow crowd at Lexington Catholic.

“We got down a little bit, but we really didn’t feel any pressure. We knew we could hit their pitchers,” said Harris. “We knew if he threw a fastball, we’d have to hit it. He threw me a fastball and I didn’t miss.”

Lafayette (30-7), ranked No. 9 in the latest top 25 by Prep Baseball Report, swept No. 10 LCA in the regular season, but its players knew they couldn’t take anything for granted.

“It’s one of those things where we found the pitches we like and we did what we wanted with them. We knew they were a really good team,” Harris said. “We knew we couldn’t come out and underestimate them. We knew it would be a battle.”

Cowen, a Centre commit, leads the team in hitting with a .425 average and 39 RBI and he’s their top hurler. He gave up two runs in the second inning and another in the seventh, but struck out eight, including the last LCA batter. The win marked Lafayette’s fifth district crown in its last six tries.

“It’s a big thing. We’ve gone a couple of years without it with COVID and then 2019, just not sealing it, but we came out in 2021 ready to get it,” said Cowen, who was named tournament MVP and pushed his record to 8-1. “I love this group. We’re going to make a good run.”

LCA mounted a two-out rally in the second inning as Parker Chaney singled to lead off the frame, but Cowen got the next two batters out. Chaney got to second on a play ruled defensive interference and LCA made Lafayette pay as Hayden Collins hit an RBI double to center field. Collins later scored on an error.

After the Harris and Owens homers to tie it, Lafayette started its own two-out rally in the fifth inning.. Landon Brown doubled and got to third on the second groundout of the inning. Then Mason Pittman legged out an infield single to short to allow Brown to score. A Cowen hit kept things going and set up RBI singles by Ben Prather and Harris for a 5-2 lead.

“It’s just great to see teams back out here in front of a huge crowd and seeing those guys just having fun playing baseball,” Lafayette Coach Chris Langston said. “For us to beat a really good Lexington Christian team, that means a lot. … It’s an awesome day.”

Both Lafayette and LCA (20-7) advance to this weekend’s 11th Region Tournament. As a district winner, Lafayette will get to host its first-round game. The bracket draw is scheduled Wednesday.

43rd District softball

The 43rd District softball tournament is scheduled to continue Tuesday at Lafayette with semifinals between the host and Tates Creek followed by a matchup of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Lexington Catholic.

Dunbar topped Lexington Christian 13-3 in their play-in game Monday as Kate Schweighardt knocked in four runs and sister Caroline Schweighardt brought home three on two hits and scored two runs.

In the latest Kentucky Prep Softball Coaches Poll, Lafayette ranks as the No. 5 team in the state ahead of Lexington Catholic at No. 7, despite the Knights’ sweep of the Generals in the regular season.

The 43rd District championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday.43rd District

Baseball notes

▪ No. 10 LCA needed a last-gasp rally to avoid being upset by Tates Creek in the semifinals on Sunday. Cole Ginter went 3-for-4 with four RBI for the Eagles, including a two-out single to center in the bottom of the seventh inning that scored the tying and winning runs in a 5-4 walk-off win. Clay Matthews singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. But Matthews failed to score on a Chance McGaughey hit and a bunt out by Will Vernon until Ginter’s heroics. Tates Creek (13-19) had taken the lead in the top of the seventh on a fielder’s choice play after a walk put Matthew Persinger on base.

▪ Lafayette’s offensive explosion against Dunbar on Sunday included batting around in the second inning with second baseman Mason Pittman hitting a two-run and a three-run home run in the sequence. They were his first homers of the season. Ben Prather and Owen Jenkins also homered.

▪ All-tournament team: Jacob McDonald, Tates Creek; Max DeGraff, Lexington Catholic; Willis McCarter, Paul Laurence Dunbar; Cole Ginter, Jackson Davis, Lexington Christian; Ethan Tuttle, Jack Harris, Micah Cowen (MVP), Lafayette.

Highlights