BOWLING GREEN– The first game of the Division II regional semifinal did not go the way Lexington High School’s pitchers had envisioned.
The Minutemen hurlers allowed eight runs and 14 base hits by Padua Franciscan (22-5) in an 8-3 loss that eliminated Lex (20-8) from the tourney.
“The ability to jump in front of a very nice team like Lexington is a plus on our side,” said Padua coach Ken Ortiz. “At the end of the day, putting them on their heels and having a pitcher throwing strikes put a little more pressure on them. It worked out for us.”
Bruins’ pitcher, Marc Ochoa went the distance, allowing three runs on six hits, two of them extra-base hits. He also walked a batter.
“Lexington is a good hitting team,” Ochoa said. “I kept putting the ball at the bottom of the zone. When I left it up (in the strike zone), they would hit it. So, the mentality was ‘keep the ball in the bottom of the zone.’”
Lexington starter Hunter Biddle allowed six runs — five in the first inning— and struck out one batter through three innings. Matt Fraiser entered in the bottom of the fourth and yielded two runs, striking out three batters and walking one.
“He did settle down and continued to make smarter pitches,” Minutemen coach Kevin Morrow said of Biddle, who left immediately after the game for a track meet. “We learned a lot the hard way that first inning, but he did settle down and compete like he as all season. I’m proud of him for coming back after that first inning.”
The Bruins opened the top of the first inning with four consecutive hits. Senior Kevin Houdek and Senior Ochoa slapped singles to open the first frame. Three-hole hitter, junior Alex Ludwick tripled home the pair. The lineup batted around in the first inning.
The Minutemen struggled offensively as Ochoa fanned eight. The offense was spared of a shutout when Biddle smoked a single to right field scoring his catcher, Jacob Odson. Joey Vore belted a two-run double, but was tagged out trying to extend it to a triple, which ended the inning.
“It felt good stringing together some hits. I made a huge mistake making the last out at third base,” Vore said. “I should have stayed there (at second), given Austin (Eifrid) is one of our best hitters, I really cost us a run there. But it felt good to get that gapper, and finally string hits together.”
The Minuetmen collected one more hit in both the sixth and seventh innings, but couldn’t rally.
“We lost to a very good team,” Morrow said. “They jumped out and just had a combination of everything going for them — infield hits, doubles, they had singles. That really sent the message they were here to hit. We did settle down in the middle innings. They continued to add on.”
Morrow complimented the Bruins pitcher and their defense.
“He didn’t break at all, and they did a nice job defensively. They definitely deserved the win,” he said. “We tell our kids to flush it (the early onslaught of runs). To take a deep breath and continue to compete. I’m proud of my kids for competing.”
