In a contest that took merely 1 hour, 10 Minutes to play, both pitchers – Senior Alex Noe for the Mustangs and Senior Chase Flaherty for Beechwood were brilliant, as the Tigers advance to the the “A” State Quarterfinals on the merits of one unearned run. Flaherty, allowed no-hits and issued a single base on balls, while striking out 10. Meanwhile, Alex Noe permitted two hits while whiffing 2 and walking 3.
Our best chance came in the top of he first inning when our first two hitters, Aiden Schultz and Luke Bertsch, occupied first and second base with nobody out and Isaac Amin, Ben Volmer, and Keegan Gulley due up at the plate. A double play and a line out later, the Tigers had survived the threat, which would be our most threatening of the game. The Tigers scored their lone run in the home half of the third inning when Sophomore Tyler Fryman walked, stole second, and scored on an error, producing the only run of the contest.
While this is extremely painful, to come this close and come up short, I will take solace in the fact that if this were a boxing match, the decision would have been unanimous in favor of Beechwood. However, it wasn’t a boxing match, and the fact remains that the Red and White Tigers scored a run and we didn’t.
The Tigers, who are no stranger to the All “A” State Tournament will be making their 11th appearance in a Quarterfinals Round, “A” State Tournament contest, and will be seeking their 6th overall, “A” State Championship. They will take on the winner of the Sayre/Danville sectional on Saturday, April 26th at Daviees High Scholl in Owensboro at 3pm.
Congratulations and best of luck moving forward to our good friend, Beechwood Head Coach Kevin Gray and the Tigers.