‘I trust our guys.’ LexCath baseball rallies to win district; Sayre takes its 3rd straight

Folks barely had time to finish their first hot dog Thursday evening before Lexington Catholic fell behind Paul Laurence Dunbar 3-0 in the 43rd District Tournament championship game.

But hardened by their district finals exit a year ago to a lower-seeded team, this season’s baseball Knights would not be denied.

“We all came together after that loss last year and said, ‘We’re not going out like this. We refuse,’” said Lexington Catholic senior left fielder Harrison Tibe, who scored on a wild pitch in the fifth inning to tie the game 4-4 after his RBI single moments earlier trimmed the deficit. “All year, we’ve handled adversity really well, I feel like.”

With two outs in the sixth inning, Tibe struck again with another RBI single to put LexCath ahead by a run on its way to an eventual 6-4 win to claim the Knights’ first district title since 2012.

LexCath got a solo homer from Owen Jenkins in the bottom of the first, playing as the higher-seeded home team on Dunbar’s field. Dunbar held a 4-1 lead in the third after a LexCath fielding error, but Max DeGraff’s RBI single in the bottom of the third kept the Knights within a comfortable margin.

“Honestly, I wasn’t concerned because I trust our guys. I trust our hitters, I trust our approaches,” LexCath Coach Scott Downs said. “We were a little bit shaky for a bit, but I trust our guys when the game’s on the line.”

A night earlier in the district semifinals against Lexington Christian, Downs’ team let a 6-3 lead slip away in the fifth inning but responded to eventually defeat the Eagles 9-6.

Battling back as both the chaser and the chased, Lexington Catholic (26-9) showed the qualities that made it the No. 4-ranked team in the state heading into the postseason.

“It shows fight. It’s big,” said Jenkins, the home run hitter. “You’re in the playoffs. When you show fight, it’s good for you. It means you can make it a little further.”

Jenkins had three hits and three RBI on Wednesday against LCA and went 3-for-3 with four runs scored Thursday to earn the tournament’s most valuable player honors. Jack Sams pitched two innings of relief for the win against Dunbar and gloved a wicked comebacker for the last out of the game.

For Dunbar (22-9), hits by Harrison Simpson, Scott Kendrick, Logan Pittmon and Tyler Gadd and a sacrifice fly by Mark Dattilio sparked their three-run first.

As district champion and runner-up, both Lexington Catholic and Dunbar advance to next week’s 11th Region Tournament. The Knights will host their first-round game against 41st District runner-up Franklin County while Dunbar will go on the road to face 41st District champ Great Crossing.

Sayre captures third straight 42nd District title

Already this year’s small-school All “A” Classic state champion, Sayre took its first step to a bigger prize by capturing its third straight 42nd District championship with a 9-4 win over Scott County at Bryan Station on Thursday.

Senior shortstop Dirk Visser went 4-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored to spark key rallies in the first, third and sixth innings that helped the Spartans take, retake and keep their lead.

“Dirk has a tendency to come up big in clutch situations and he’s not afraid of the moment,” Sayre Coach Kevin Clary said. “It’s just Dirk being Dirk.”

Ranked No. 7 in the final coaches’ poll, Sayre (28-8) turned to sophomore right-hander Owen Murphy for the postseason start. He allowed four runs in six innings and struck out seven for his seventh win of the season as his team provided plenty of run support.

“We’ve watched Owen grow up right before our very eyes. He’s stepped up in a major way,” Clary said. “He had a lot of growing up to do and he over-exceeded what we thought he could do.”

All four runs for Scott County (20-15) were knocked in by Shawn Rowe, who had a double among his two hits.

Sayre finished runner-up to Madison Central in the region championship last season. With Division I commits Raymond Saatman (Kentucky) and Addison Stockham (Eastern Kentucky) among a class of six seniors, Clary, who led Lexington Catholic to a state title in 2009, knows he has a team that can contend again.

“We know how tough the 11th Region is and we’re not taking anything for granted,” Clary said. “It’s super hard. But it also gives you a great sense of satisfaction if you’re able to come through it.”

Dunbar survived top 10 semifinals showdown

To earn its spot in the 43rd District finals, Dunbar, ranked No. 6 in the final PrepBaseballReport.com Power Rankings, had to defeat No. 9 Tates Creek on Wednesday.

And it wasn’t easy.

Dunbar held a 7-2 lead going into the top of the seventh only to see the Commodores get a two-run homer by Matthew Persinger and a game-tying three run double by Broedy Dunham to help extend the game to extra innings.

Scott Kendrick delivered a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of eighth inning to score Harrison Simpson and secure Dunbar’s first trip to the 43rd finals and 11th Region Tournament since 2012.

Kendrick had a two-run double in the sixth that helped stake Dunbar to its 7-2 lead. He shrugged off his team’s late collapse that nearly ended their season.

“It’s baseball … sometimes it punches you in the mouth. You’ve just got to punch back,” Kendrick said.

11th Region Tournament

Semifinals and finals at Madison Central

Monday

6 p.m.: Madison Southern (15-17) at Sayre (28-8)

6 p.m.: Franklin County (19-13) at Lexington Catholic (26-9)

7 p.m.: Scott County (20-15) at Madison Central (25-9)

7 p.m.: Paul Laurence Dunbar (22-9) at Great Crossing (22-12)

Tuesday

6 p.m.: Franklin County-Lexington Catholic winner vs. Scott County-Madison Central winner

8 p.m.: Madison Southern-Sayre winner vs. Paul Laurence Dunbar-Great Crossing winner

Wednesday

7 p.m.: Championship game