Sixth-inning surge from North Oldham buries Walton-Verona in 8th Region quarterfinal, Simon Kenton advances

Walton-Verona watched a one-run game slip out of reach in a single inning, as North Oldham’s sixth-inning surge in the rain-soaked 8th Region quarterfinal turned a tight contest into a season-ending loss for the Bearcats.

With the score sitting at 8-7 and the Bearcats still firmly within striking distance, the Mustangs broke the game open in the sixth, pouring on a 12-run frame to stretch the lead to 20-7, the final score after the run rule came into effect Sunday afternoon at Bishop Brossart’s Mustang Athletic Complex.

Originally scheduled to be played at Walton-Verona, steady rain and the availability of Bishop Brossart’s turf field shifted the matchup to Alexandria. Even with the change in venue, the weather never really stepped aside. The slick conditions shaped everything that followed, from command on the mound to routine plays in the field.

“Baseball’s already a hard game so it becomes a mental battle as much a physical battle,” Walton-Verona head coach Andrew Sien said. “That’s not an excuse for us, they’re playing in the same atmosphere, you just try to make the most of what you have and we never settled down on the mound.”

In all, there were eight wild pitches, 22 walks, seven errors, and two hit batters. At one point, even a bat slipped free and flew out of a Walton-Verona hitter’s hands, a fitting snapshot of the afternoon’s unpredictability.

The conditions made life difficult for both pitching staffs, and even as the rain eased, the Bearcats never quite settled in on the mound. After Cole Dryden opened with two innings of work, Walton-Verona turned to five different pitchers over the final four frames in search of stability.

North Oldham had their own early struggles on the mound, but the Mustangs weathered a six-run second inning from the Bearcats, highlighted by RBIs from Oliver Pfeffer and Will Hurles, along with an RBI double from Trever Bauwens. Three more runs came via wild pitches

From there, Samuel Kye took over in relief and quieted things down, working 4.2 innings while allowing just one earned run, issuing one walk, and striking out eight, helping North Oldham regain control and setting the stage for the decisive sixth.

The Mustangs struck first with two runs in the opening inning and after Walton-Verona’s second inning North Oldham responded with three runs in both the third and fourth innings, taking the lead for good on a two-run triple from Gabriel Kuerzi.

Walton-Verona kept clawing. Pfeffer delivered again with a double in the fifth, finishing with two RBIs, but that would be the last time the Bearcats seriously threatened.

Then came the sixth.

The frame opened with a hit batter, followed by back-to-back walks. Beckett Labar then drove a two-run double, part of a four-RBI afternoon. After the first out, two more walks, one forcing in a run, pushed the lead further. Jackson Bowen followed with a two-run double, and another walk plus a hit batter tacked on yet another run.

Kuerzi capped the outburst with a three-run double, his fifth RBI of the day, and back-to-back Walton-Verona errors allowed three more runs to score, effectively ending the game.

“The funny thing is, we’ve put up a ton of runs this year in the sixth inning and I have no idea why,” North Oldham coach Erik Phelps said. “Unfortunately for them, they were struggling to throw strikes, so we took balls, and when they did throw in the zone we did some damage. That’s high school baseball, momentum turns.”

Down big, the Bearcats still tried to extend their season. They loaded the bases in the final frame, searching for one last rally, but a fly ball to centerfield ended the game and brought the curtain down on their year.

Walton-Verona finishes the season 23-13, graduating nine seniors, six of them starters, including standout, Bronson Corpus, who will continue his career at Eastern Kentucky University.

“He set school records, he’s the strikeout leader, got close to all-time wins, won 8th Region Player of the Year,” Sien said. “He grew a lot as a leader and at the plate too. You go throw 16 innings and then hit .350? There’s not a lot like him.”

On the mound, Corpus finishes with career totals of 40 starts, 209.2 innings pitched, 304 strikeouts, 20 wins, and two saves. At the plate, he totaled 66 hits, 85 RBIs, 12 doubles, three triples, 18 home runs, and 27 stolen bases. He was unable to pitch on Sunday due to pitch count rules and throwing 121 pitches in Thursday’s district championship victory over Simon Kenton.

North Oldham advances to the 8th Region semifinals, where they will face the winner of Henry County and Spencer County on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Thomas More Stadium.

MORE PHOTOS: Provided by Charles Bolton

SIMON KENTON 4, WOODFORD COUNTY 0

(Staff Report)

Two teams playing in an entirely different city and region from where they call home were able to get their 8th Region tournament quarterfinal game in at Lexington Catholic High School Sunday evening.

The Pioneers got 6.2 innings of shutout baseball from the arm of Billy Dennis, scattering seven hits and walking one while striking out eight. Jeffery Young got the final out of the game to finish off the Yellow Jackets.

Caleb Uhl and Logan Lawson drove in two runs apiece for the scoring damage. Lawson got the scoring started with an RBI single in a three-run second, Uhl following with a two-run single.

Dennis did the work from there while Lawson added a sac fly RBI in the top of the seventh for some insurance.

Woodford threatened in the third as they loaded the bases up with two outs, but never got much going from there, Dennis throwing 117 pitches, 83 of them for strikes. All seven Yellow Jacket hits were singles.

The win gets Simon Kenton into Wednesday’s semifinals to face the South Oldham-Eminence winner at Thomas More Stadium in Florence at 5:30 p.m.

Walton-Verona and Simon Kenton were the only two baseball teams to get games in on Sunday, the rest of the state was plagued by the continuous wet weather.

MUSTANGS 20, BEARCATS 7 (6 INN)

NORTH OLDHAM — 2 0 3-3 0 12-x — 20-8-2
WALTON-VERONA — 0 6 0-0 1 0-x — 7-8-5

RBI — (NO) Kuerzi 5, Labar 4, Bowen 2, Dickhaut, Graeter, Seely (WV) Pfeffer 2, Bauwens, Hurles
2B — (NO) Bowen, Kuerzi, Labar (WV) Bauwens, Lehmkuhl, Pfeffer
3B — (NO) Kuerzi
WP — Lye. LP — Riekstins.

Records: North Oldham 22-6, Walton-Verona 23-13

PIONEERS 4, YELLOW JACKETS 0

SIMON KENTON — 030-000-1 — 4-7-0

WOODFORD CO. — 000-000-0 — 0-7-2