The University Heights Academy baseball team advanced to the 2nd Region All “A” Classic championship with a narrow 4-3 win over Dawson Springs on Tuesday night. The Blazers have won three straight to move to 5-3, while the Panthers have lost three in a row and stand at 1-3 on the year.
The Blazers opened up a lead in the bottom of the second inning when freshman Luke Welch doubled over the head of the Panther center fielder and brought in sophomore Scribby Goode. Junior Zach Naylor grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Welch to double the margin.
Neither team could generate much offense, with Blazers’ sophomore Tanner Thomas and Panthers’ freshman pitcher Dylan Dawson keeping both lineups at bay. In the top of the fifth, the Panthers broke through to tie the game on a single by senior Kevin Brooks, but the Blazers answered in their half of the inning to regain the lead. Junior Drew McGowan had a hand in both runs, smacking a single to right field to bring home 8th grader Dustin Moon, and then scoring on a Panther error for a 4-2 lead.
In its last at bat, Dawson Springs took advantage of two Blazer errors on one play to cut the lead to 1, but Thomas coaxed two fly balls for the last two outs to punch the Blazers’ ticket to the championship game.
Thomas only allowed three hits and 3 runs, 2 earned, while striking out seven and walking four. He also collected two hits, as did McGowan and Welch. Both also had an RBI and a run scored, with Naylor knocking in a run.
Dawson was saddled with the loss, pitching six innings and giving up 4 earned runs on six hits, while striking out six and walking two. Brooks led the Panthers at the plate, going 1-2 with 2 RBI and drawing two walks.
University Heights hosts the championship game on Thursday against Caldwell County, 8-0 winners over Lyon County in the other semifinal on Tuesday.