Tindle throws shutout at Breck in district tourney
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Brock Tindle displayed a touch of greatness when he threw a 2-hit shutout to lead Hancock County to a 2-0 victory over Breckinridge County in the 11th District Baseball Tournament semifinals Monday. The event was hosted by Meade County High School.
“Brock wanted the ball and he threw well… he was in the zone. It took a lot of guts for a freshman to handle a situation like this,” HCHS coach Brad Keown said.
The freshman right-hander was in a duel with Breck County junior Isaac Seeger and the two hurlers put on a show. Seeger is considered to be quite possibly the best pitcher in the 3rd Region. The right-hander has 105 strike outs against 12 walks on the season with an ERA of 0.93. He showed his stuff when he struck out the side in the first two innings Monday.
Tindle did not have a similar beginning to what ended up being a gem. Brock gave up line drive hits to the first two Tiger batters, then settled down and kept Breck County hitters off balance the rest of the way.
There were no runs on the scoreboard through five innings when Hunter Severs was hit by a wild pitch to lead off the sixth. Andrew Boutcher laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Severs to second base and Cole Dixon reached first when another offering by Seeger glanced off Dixon’s helmet.
Severs reached third on a ground out by Drew Lyday then sprinted toward home plate after another uncharacteristic wild pitch thrown by the Breck County pitcher.
Severs slid in head first and was safe, giving the Hornets a 1-0 lead.
Austin Volocko later deliver an RBI base hit that scored Dixon and put HCHS ahead 2-0.
Tindle got two quick outs in the bottom of the sixth then got the third Tiger batter to pop up to the infield. The third out looked to be imminent until two Hornet defenders collided and the ball fell to the ground.
Tindle did not seem to be affected as he struck out the next batter to end the frame.
The tall freshman got the first two outs of the seventh when Jake Frames made a catch in right field and Volocko made a put out on a ground ball to third. Tindle walked the next batter, but it all ended when Lyday made a catch on a foul ball near the backstop to end the game.
Tindle got the win on the mound. He allowed no runs on two hits, with five Ks and two walks over seven complete innings.
Seeger took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits, with 11 Ks, two walks, two hit batsmen and two wild pitches.
Volocko was 1 for 2 with one RBI, and Kaleb Keown was 1 for 2. Severs and Dixon were both 0 for 2 with a run scored.
The Hornets advance to the 3rd Region tournament at Grayson County beginning this weekend.
Meade wins district
The Hornets held an early lead and battled ‘til the end during an 8-4 loss to Meade County in the 11th District title game Monday evening in Brandenburg.
“Having a two hour wait in between games is not good for anybody, but we fought hard. We could’ve laid down when it was 7-2 but we didn’t. We showed a lot of guts there at the end,” coach Keown said.
Hancock County (13-17) jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the 22-10 Green Wave powerhouse in the first inning. Lyday got a 1-out base hit and Keown followed with a double to right that left runners on second and third.
Volocko came to the plate and drilled a shot in the left-center field gap to put the Hornets ahead 2-0.
Meade County answered with a run in the home half of the first, then added three runs in the second when Dylan Abell belted a home run over the fence in right-center field.
Three hits produced two more runs in the third inning and the hometown Green Wave were flying high, leading 6-2. A solo home run by Trevor Goodwin in the fourth made the score 7-2.
The Hornets battled back in the sixth when Dixon led off with a base hit to left. Keown stroked a single and Dixon later scored when he raced home after a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly by Volocko allowed Keown to tag up and score. The big cat showed good speed on the play.
Meade pitcher Tucker Crawley eventually got the third out to end the rally.
The Green Wave added an insurance run in the sixth and the Hornets had a runner at third base with the final out was recorded in the seventh.
“Sam (Walz) threw well and we brought in another freshman to pitch and Jordan (Payne) held his own pretty well,” the coach said.
Sam Walz started on the mound and absorbed the loss. He allowed four runs on five hits, with no walks over two innings. Jordan Payne allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits, with four Ks and two walks over four innings of relief.
Volocko was 1 for 3 with a double, a sacrifice and three RBI, and Keown was 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored. Dixon was 2 for 4, and Lyday was 1 for 4. Aiden Taylor scored a run as a pitch runner.
Abell, Goodwin and Ben Banks all had two hits each for Meade County.
By Steve Wimmer
