In search of their sixth All “A” state baseball title since 2006, Beechwood came up just short in a 4-2 loss to University Heights Academy on Sunday at Daviess County High School.
Knotted at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, UHA’s Jackson Flynn broke the tie with an RBI single. The Blazers added an insurance run on a sacrifice bunt and held on from there.
Beechwood’s run to the championship included a 16-1 sectional victory over Bishop Brossart on the Mustangs home field on April 15. They then ventured to Owensboro for the quarterfinals this weekend, where they defeated Jackson County 4-0 on Saturday. Sawyer Carlisle pitched 6.1 innings of three-hit baseball, walking three and striking out 10.
In Sunday morning’s semifinals, the Tigers defeated Lexington Christian, 5-1. Tyler Fyman and Zach True hit homers in the victory.
Trailing 2-0 in Sunday’s championship game, Hudson Edwards tied the game up with a two-run double in the top of the third, scoring Tyler Fryman and Roland King. The Tigers had a chance to take the lead from there, leaving the bases loaded in the third. Caleb Arrasmith pitched a complete game in defeat, allowing seven hits, three earned runs, walked three and struck out five.
Fryman, True and Carlisle were named to the All-Tournament team.
Beechwood is now 19-7 on the season with their next contest at Grant County on Wednesday. Sunday marked their eighth trip to the All “A” championship game since 2006, now 5-3 in those games.
Walton-Verona also made the trip to Owensboro after defeating Kentucky Country Day 16-1 in the sectional round. They lost to Campbellsville on Saturday in the quarterfinals, 10-0 in six innings.
Beechwood’s softball team went 0-3 in pool play in their All “A” state softball tournament visit to Owensboro. Cumberland County defeated two-time champion Livingston Central for the softball title.