Leopards Rally, Walk-Off Vs. Dover in Opener – Baseball
Louisville 2, Dover 1
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The Louisville Leopards Varsity Baseball Team rallied with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to stun the visiting Dover Tornadoes 2-1 in their season opener Saturday Afternoon at Andy Aljancic Field.
Morley and Seaman Deliver in the 7th
Connor Morley singled in Kaedin Gotshall with 2 outs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 1-1. Two batters later, Zack Seaman hit a walk-off line drive single off the glove of the leaping Dover third baseman scoring JT Popick from third base to hand the Leopards an opening day victory. After Popick crossed home plate, the bench erupted onto the field mobbing Seaman on the right side of the infield in a helmet-flying, water-bottle spraying frenzy.
Jackson Fans 8 in Five Shutout Innings
Earlier Louisville senior starting pitcher Tyler Jackson found himself in a pitcher’s duel with Dover’s Brennan McCune. Jackson pitched five shutout innings giving up only 3 hits and striking out 8 Dover batters. The Tornadoes threatened with a pair of base runners in each of the first three innings, but Jackson got out of the jam each time as Dover stranded 6 on the base paths. He would go on to retire the final 8 batters he faced consecutively before giving way to Morley in relief.
Dover Takes the Lead in the Sixth
Ayden Hall and Connor McGarry both hit 1-out ground ball singles to left field. They then advanced to second and third on an error. On the next pitch, Nolan Kellicker grounded into a fielder’s choice allowing Hall to score from third. A pop out to first baseman Ryan Aljancic at first base ended the frame after that.
The Leopards also threatened in the bottom of the sixth inning. Morley walked and Connor Adelman bunted aboard to setup Louisville with runners on first and second with no outs. However, the Leopard runners would advance no further as McCune retired the next three LHS batters.
Leopards Rally in the 7th
When setup with a similar scenario to begin the bottom of the seventh, Louisville made the most of it. Aljancic singled to start the rally, but was thrown out at second when Gotshall bunted into a fielder’s choice. Popick followed with a single to put Gotshall into scoring position.
After a pop out in the next at-bat, the Leopards were down to their final out. Then Morley blasted a fly ball to left field that dropped in front of the Tornadoes left fielder and allowed Gotshall to sprint home from second base.
Adelman followed and walked the bases loaded on just five pitches. Then Seaman delivered on the next pitch plating Popick, the game winning run, from third.
Popick Breaks Up No-Hitter in 5th
Four of Louisville’s five hits came in the final frame. McCune was tossing a no-hitter for the Tornadoes before Popick smashed a 2-out line drive double to left in the bottom of the fifth. Popick would lead all Leopard batters by finishing 2-for-3 at the dish.
Brandon Shepler was the only Dover player to have a multi-hit game by going 2-for-4 in his lead-off position.
McCune picked up a tough loss after allowing just one hit and striking out 8 through his first 6 innings of work. Morley pitched the final two innings for Louisville and picked up the victory. He allowed an unearned run on 3 hits and struck out one in the process.
<<< Previous 2019 | Dover All-Time Series
JV:Louisville 10, Dover 5
UP NEXT: The Louisville Baseball Team will next host the Cloverleaf Colts on Monday, March 29 to open up the Constitution Town Early-Bird Tournament. First pitch is slated for 5:00 PM from Andy Aljancic Field.
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VARSITY BASEBALL BOX SCORE
LEOPARDS 2, TORNADOES 1
Team 123-456-7–R-H-E
Dover 000-001-0–1-6-1
Louisville 000-000-2–2-5-2
DOVER TORNADOES BASEBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Shepler | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mason Stoldt | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brennan McCune | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ayden Hall | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Connor McGarry | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nolan Kellicker | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Matt Dummermuth | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Tyler Little | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Evan Klar | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 27 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
DOVER TORNADOES BASEBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brennan McCune | 6.2 | 102 | .725 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| Totals | 6.2 | 102 | .725 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS BASEBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zack Seaman | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Roberts | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Broc Pickens | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Aljancic | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Anthony Warner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaedin Gotshall | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| JT Popick | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyler Jackson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Connor Morley | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Connor Adelman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Caleb Miller | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 25 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS BASEBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Jackson | 5.0 | 75 | .653 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Connor Morley | 2.0 | 26 | .654 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 7.0 | 101 | .653 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
Records: Louisville 1-0, Dover 0-1
