LEXINGTON — Clutch hitting, and pitching paved the way to Whitley County’s berth into Saturday’s 2023 Clark’s Pump-N-Shop State Baseball Championship Game.
A two-hit, two RBI, effort by Sam Harp, combined with the pitching trio of Mason Croley, Braydn Bargo, and Grant Zehr led to Whitley County’s 2-1 win over Henderson County during Friday’s semifinal night cap.
“Big win for our guys,” Whitley County coach Jeremy Shope said. “We looked comfortable and played in the moment. We would have had no regrets, win or lose. It’s a big win because we get to live for one more day — the State Championship.”
Whitley County (38-4) built a 2-0 lead, and held on, advancing to face-off against Shelby County in Saturday’s state title game at 7 p.m.
Croley improved to 14-1, and turned in his best pitching effort of the season, limiting Henderson County to only one hit in 5 1/3 of an inning. He only had two walks, and struck out eight batters.
Braydn Bargo came in relief in the sixth inning, and tossed an inning of scoreless, and hitless ball.
Zehr tossed 2/3 of an inning to record his second save of the state tournament.
Harp led the way with two hits, and two RBI while RJ Osborne had two hits for Whitley County as well. Bryce Anderson and Zehr each had a hit, and a run scored apiece.
“We did expect a tough game tonight,” Shope said. “We knew their pitcher was going to be good. But we also knew Mason was good. Mason has been good all year for us. Bargo came in and did what he did for us all year. He came in and got us some outs. Grant came in and closed it. Sam had big hits. Grant had a big hit. We executed a big first and third defense. I could go on and on about different guys that helped us win tonight.”
Whitley County threatened first, putting runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the second inning.
Matthew Wright reached base with a walk while Osborne connected with a hit. Andrew Stack followed with a fly ball to center field to end the scoring threat.
Henderson County got its first hit in the bottom
Of the second inning after a double by Dax Wilson.
Croley got out of the jam by picking Wilson off on second base while getting Seth Galloway to fly out to end the inning.
Anderson’s one-out single in the third inning started a rally for Whitley County. Grant Zehr followed with a pop out while Sam Harp followed with a run-scoring triple, giving his team a 1-0 lead. Hunter Wilson followed with a hard hit ground out to end the inning.
Croley ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning but still found a way to get out of it.
A lead off walk to Wilson led to him stealing second base with one out. Galloway followed with a hit by pitch, putting runners on first and second d with one out.
Tom Wolfe came up to the plate, and worked the count to 2-0 before Wilson, and Galloway attempted a double-steal with Hunter Wilson throwing down to second base but Croley caught the ball on the pitcher’s mound, and immediately threw to third base and getting a put out.
Croley ended the inning by forcing Wolfe to fly out to end the inning.
Whitley County looked to add insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning with Zehr leading off with a triple to left field. Harp followed with a bloop single hit that fell in center field, scoring Zehr to give his team a 2-0 advantage.
Henderson County answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, cutting its deficit to 2-1.
Whitley County took care of business the remainder of the game, as Bargo, and Zehr completed the job on the pitcher’s mound to seal their team’s one-run victory.
