RAY HITS WALK OFF HOMERUN TO BEAT HACKETT IN DISTRICT SEMIFINALS

With a 2-0 count in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Bearcats trailing Hackett by a run, Rylen Ray got a pitch he wanted.

He did not miss. Ray drilled his seventh homerun of the season well out of the park to left and followed senior Dax Goff around the bases touching home to beat the Hornets 5-4.

For Ray the home run capped a stellar day in which he was 3-for-3 at the plate with the two RBI on the home run. He also threw out a runner attempting to steal for the fifth time this season.

Ray had singled in the third and departed for courtesy runner Tayden Washburn. Washburn would move to second on a throwing error while Goff was stealing third, and score on a single by senior Matt O’Bar.

O’Bar was 1-for-3 on the day with the RBI.

Ray led off the Bearcat fifth with a single but Washburn was erased on a fielder’s choice and the Bearcats would not be able to score.

Goff, who would throw a 104-pitch complete game, had been mowing down Hornets until the top of the sixth when a one-out double was followed by a homerun that tied the game at 3-3.

Another hit, then an error put the go-ahead run in scoring position but Goff got out of it after a mound visit.

Goff (4-0) allowed an unearned run in the top of the seventh that gave Hackett a 4-3 lead, the run scoring on an errant pickoff attempt, to set up Ray’s heroics.

Besides being hit by the pitch that brought Ray to the plate, Goff was walked twice.

Otherwise the Bearcat offense consisted of a couple of walks, Ray's three hits, the single by O’Bar and one each by Casey Carter and Dylan Todd.

Todd also had a defensive putout on an outfield assist from Conner Lentz gunning down a Hornet who wanted two bases rather than settling for a single.

The Bearcats will face Charleston, an 8-2 winner over second seeded Paris in the second semifinal game last night. The game is set for 5:30 today which would complete the tournament in an accelerated fashion in response to weather concerns.

The Bearcats beat Charleston 7-4 in the regular season.