Ayden Lockhart’s senior baseball season didn’t get started off on a good note.
Dealing with a hamstring injury, the Simon Kenton senior missed the majority of the season trying to get up to speed. On Sunday in the 8th Region baseball tournament quarterfinals, Lockhart delivered when the Pioneers needed him most.
His two-run single in the bottom of the third helped break things open as Simon Kenton put up a four-spot in the frame and defeated Collins 5-1 in Sunday’s quarterfinal matchup in Independence.
“I cannot say how happy I am for Ayden Lockhart,” Pioneers coach Brady Smiley said. “Senior year comes in with a hamstring injury and kind of missed an opportunity to earn that starting spot. All year he’s kept his head down and worked his butt off. Then he gets this opportunity and performs in a huge moment.”
Lockhart finished the day at the plate 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Prior to and after Simon Kenton’s (18-10-1) pivotal third inning, Tyler Ruete did the dirty work. The senior kept the Titans hitters off balance in firing 6.1 innings of one-hit baseball, not allowing a Collins (20-14) runner to reach third base until the final inning. When he exited with runners on first and second with one out in the sixth, his day consisted of four walks and six strikeouts.
Ruete, a Salem University commit, is one of three returning starters from last year’s region championship team.
“There is nobody that I would rather have out there than Tyler Ruete,” Smiley said. “He’s, just a dog. You feel like you’re going to win whenever he’s out there.”
He kept hitters off balance with his breaking ball, especially crediting his slider in getting him out of any trouble that presented itself.
“I got a lot of swings and misses today, but what kept me in the game was my defense behind me,” Ruete said. “Pounding the strike zone, fooling the hitters and making them think a lot was probably the biggest thing. I really felt like I kept them off-balance the entire game.”
The four-run third was mostly a self-implosion from the Titans. Three walks loaded the bases. Then Logan Lawson reached on an error, scoring Caleb Uhl to draw first blood. Brett Bockmon followed with a hit by pitch, scoring Cash Hoard. Then Lockhart’s two-out, two-run single followed.
“I was just taking what they were giving me,” Lockhart said. “They kept throwing off the plate and knew I had a job to do so poked it to right field. I’ve dealt with a lot of injuries this year, haven’t been in there as much as I wanted to and know I have a job to do help my team.”
Simon Kenton added a run in the fifth on Luke Lawson’s RBI single, scoring twin brother Logan.
“Working counts, knowing the zone, taking whatever it was, and just waiting for that time that we were going to get that hit,” Smiley said.
Collins was down to their last out when they finally had a runner pass third base and headed to home on Alston Whitworth’s RBI single. Hoard ended the threat when he got a flyout to center to end the game.
It puts Simon Kenton’s region repeat hopes now two wins away. They’ll face North Oldham in Tuesday’s semifinals at 5:30 p.m. at Thomas More Stadium in Florence.
Unlike prior years when the Pioneers won region titles in 2014, 2017 and 2024, they won’t need long bus rides to do so. With the 32nd District being the host of this year’s region tournament, they were able to secure the home of the Florence Y’all’s and Thomas More University in Florence to host.
“Excited for the short drive,” Lockhart said.
Tuesday’s task will be a tall one. They’re most likely in line to face the Mustangs ace Ryan Sanders, a Wabash Valley Junior College commit who hits 92 on the radar gun with his fastball. Sanders is 5-4 this season with a 0.62 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched.
“We’re going to see one of the best pitchers in the region,” Smiley said. “It’s going to be a test at the plate. If our pitching can throw well, I like our pitching to keep us in any game, but it’s just a matter of scratching a few runs against a really good pitcher.”
The two did not face one another in the regular season.
PHOTOS: Simon Kenton vs Collins 8th Region baseball tournament quarterfinals (provided by Charles Bolton)
PIONEERS 5, TITANS 1
COLLINS — 000-000-1 — 1-2-1
SIMON KENTON — 004-010-x — 5-4-3
WP — Ruete. LP — Morris.
Records: Collins 20-14, Simon Kenton 18-13-1
Walton-Verona 6, Henry County 5
Trailing 5-4 in the top of the fifth with two outs, Walton-Verona took advantage of two costly Henry County errors to score two runs and sneak away with a 6-5 victory on Sunday at Henry County.
Aiden Kerns scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-5, Kainan Held then coming around to score on the same-at bat on an error for what turned out to be the game-winning run.
Cole Dryden and Bronson Corpus closed the door from there for the Bearcats as they advanced to the region semifinals for the third time in the last four years.
Walton-Verona’s (21-14) name of the game in the victory? Patience. They walked 12 times despite just three hits in the contest. Kerns and Held combined for half of those free passes with three walks each.
Trevor Bauwens three-run double in the top of the third did a lot of the Bearcats’ damage. That hit made it 4-1.
The Wildcats clawed back with two runs in the bottom half of the third to make it 4-3 on Camden Peyton’s two-run single. Henry County (14-15) took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth on Isaac Abney’s two-run double.
The Wildcats threatened in the bottom half of the sixth as they loaded the bases with one out, but Corpus, an Eastern Kentucky University commit, entered and eliminated the threat with a strikeout and fly out to left. Corpus then pitched a 1-2-3 seventh.
Walton-Verona faces Spencer County in Tuesday’s 8th Region semifinals at Thomas More Stadium at 8 p.m. The last matchup between the two was in 2011.