GLASGOW – Everything was going Glasgow’s way in the early stages of Monday’s game against Allen County-Scottsville – until it wasn’t.
The Scotties fired on all cylinders over the course of the first two innings and built a commanding 7-0 lead, but the Patriots climbed all the way back into it and evened the scoreboard at 8-all in the top of the seventh inning.
“That pitcher – he’s a really good pitcher,” Glasgow’s Gavin Burd said of Allen County-Scottsville’s Sheldon Peay. “We started off early and drove in a few hits with a few runs, then he started dealing on us and we couldn’t figure him out. Then, in the bottom half, we finally figured it out.”
“Well, I had two strikes on me, and the guy before me just lined out really hard,” Burd said. “I was just looking for a ball to drive … and I ended up driving it over the fence.”
Glasgow (10-5, 2-2) unloaded for four runs in the opening inning and was the aggressor early. Jaydon Wells – who came up big for the Scotties with four RBI off two hits – scored the first run of the night with a single in the bottom of the first and later added a three-run triple in the next frame to give the home club the aforementioned 7-0 cushion.
Allen County-Scottsville (9-5, 3-1) scored eight of the final 10 runs and was able to get all the way within 8-8 in the seventh but could never jump in front of the Scotties. Marcus Carter led the way for the Patriots with a 3-for-5, two-RBI outing.
While Burd recorded the game-winning blast and Wells finished with four RBI, Ryan Jones and Griffin Murphy each finished with a pair of hits as Glasgow finished with 10 as a team. Allen County-Scottsville tallied six hits, but left 11 runners stranded.
“Momentum shifted, but we never relinquished the lead,” Glasgow coach Sam Royse said. “They tied it, but we didn’t relinquish it. We made big plays when we needed to get ‘em to keep the ball game tied up. All in all, it was a very exciting baseball game, and Gavin came up with the walk-off home run.”
Glasgow came out and quickly went to work.
Wells singled into left field to score Jones – who led off with a walk – and gave the Scotties a 1-0 lead nearly five minutes in. Following Wells’ hit, Jaden Franklin doubled to score a pair before Thad Dial’s single scored another and made it 4-0 after half an inning of play.
The Scotties carried their hot hitting into the ensuing frame, as they added three more runs to their side of the board. With the bases loaded, Wells came up big again, this time sending a ball into center field to clear the bases.
Wells, being a little greedy, tried to go for the inside-the-park home run but was tagged out at the plate. Despite that, he helped Glasgow have a 7-0 lead after two.
“Well, we usually start off in the fifth inning, but for some reason we started off in the first today,” said Burd while his teammates were celebrating behind him and holding shark puppets. “We’ve got that ‘shark mentality.’ We had a Navy seal come in and give us a motivation speech, and he told us ‘to attack everything like sharks’ and that it all starts in your head.
“We showed a lot of fight, and when we let them come back we had to have that strong mental approach.”
Allen County-Scottsville broke through with a pair of runs in the third.
Tristen Brooks – the leadoff hitter – sent a solo home run over the right field wall to give the Patriots their first run. Following Brooks’ shot, Hunter Foster laid down an RBI sacrifice grounder and cut AC-S’ deficit to 7-2 at the end of three.
The Patriots continued to battle back, and a three-run fifth certainly helped out. With no outs, Cayden Ross and Warren Bray laid down back-to-back RBI doubles, which brought Allen County-Scottsville to within 7-5.
“We had a really got at-bats early in the ball game and I think their pitcher found a different gear over there,” Royse said. “He found a different gear and we didn’t solve him very well in the later innings. He just found a didn’t level and we didn’t do much.
AC-S tacked on another run in the sixth to make it 7-6, and later knotted it at 8-all in the top of the seventh. That’s as close as the visitors would get, as Burd came through with his game-winning blast.
Both teams return to action on Tuesday, as Glasgow hosts Monroe County and Barren County welcomes in Allen County-Scottsville. Both games are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
“It’s a good feeling for the boys to see them to continue to play hard and play in those situations where every pitch matters,” said Royse. “There’s a lot of pressure on players in those situations. To see us perform under those conditions right there makes me really happy for our kids.”
–Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @TMansfieldST.–
