By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Owensboro Catholic hit three home runs in the top of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead and went on to defeat Walton-Verona, 12-2, in five innings in the championship game of the All “A” Classic state baseball tournament on Thursday at Louisville Holy Cross High School.
It was the first time that a Walton-Verona team reached the championship game. Owensboro Catholic has now won four small-school state baseball titles.
After giving up the three home runs, Walton-Verona senior pitcher Travis Smith had some control problems. In his four innings on the mound, he put eight runners on base with five walks and three errant pitches that hit batters. He also threw four wild pitches and two of them allowed runs to score.
Walton-Verona catcher Ethan Mills tags out an Owensboro Catholic player at the plate in the fifth inning of the All “A” Classic state championship game. (Photo by Carla Martin)
It was the worst outing of the season for Smith, who signed a letter of intent with the University of Kentucky on Monday. He entered the game with a 4-1 record and 1.53 earned run average in 32 innings.
“Travis definitely wasn’t Travis, is the way we said it after the game,” said Walton-Verona coach Clint Coleman. “For whatever reason, he just didn’t have it tonight.”
The senior right-hander did have eight strikeouts and ranks among the state’s top pitchers in that category with a total of 78. But that didn’t offset giving up home runs to three of the first four batters he faced.
Owensboro Catholic junior Sam McFarland opened the game with a home run. After the next batter walked, junior Luke Scales hit a two-run shot over the fence. The third homer came off the bat of senior pitcher Finley Munsey.
“They were kind of sitting on the fast ball and put some good swings on it,” Coleman said. “They jumped out of the gate early and that certainly made it an uphill battle from there.”
Munsey pitched all five innings for the Aces and pushed his season record to 6-0. After giving up a two-run homer and a single in the bottom of the first inning, the right-hander retired 14 of the next 18 batters he faced. He allowed one hit, walked two batters and had one batter reach base on an error.
Walton-Verona sophomore Jimmy Shields celebrates with teammates after hitting a two-run homer. (Photo by Carla Martin)
“He was solid,” Coleman said of Munsey, who had seven strikeouts. “He did a good job keeping us off stride and we just couldn’t put any hits together to get anything going.”
In the bottom of the first inning, sophomore third baseman Jimmy Shields hit a two-run homer and Smith singled for Walton-Verona. The Bearcats’ other hit was a double by sophomore catcher Ethan Mills leading off the fourth inning.
Owensboro Catholic junior Luke Evans jacked his team’s fourth home in the fifth inning when the Aces scored three runs off Walton-Verona relief pitcher Carson Portwood to take a 12-2 lead.
The Bearcats did not score in the bottom of the fifth inning and the game ended according to the 10-run rule in high school baseball.
Munsey was named most valuable player on the state all-tournament team that included four of his Owensboro Catholic teammates. The Walton-Verona players that received all-tournament awards were Mills, Smith and sophomores Lance Coleman and Evan Kerns.
“The message after the game was, ‘We know this hurts, but there were only two teams left standing (in the tournament) and we were one of them,'” coach Coleman said.
The 19-4 Bearcats have eight games remaining on their schedule and will be the top seed in the 32nd District post-season playoffs that are scheduled to begin on May 31.
OWENSBORO CATHOLIC 402 33 — 12 9 1
WALTON-VERONA 200 00 — 2 3 1
WP — Munsie (7 Ks). LP — Smith (8 Ks). HITTING LEADERS: OC — McFarland 2-4, HR, Scales HR, 2 RBI; F. Munsey HR; Evans HR, 2 RBI; E. Munsey 2B. WV — Shields HR, 2 RBI; Mills 2B. RECORDS: Owensboro Catholic 20-3, Walton-Verona 19-4.
Walton-Verona first baseman Lance Coleman makes a sweeping tag on a pickoff throw from the pitcher. (Photo by Carla Martin)
