Duckworth Walk-Off Completes Comeback, Forces Split

Joey Duckworth Louisville Leopards Baseball 2012

JOEY DUCKWORTH WALK-OFF 2-RUN SINGLE

Game 1: Indian Valley 6, Louisville 5

The Leopards scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Indian Valley still survived to win the game 6-5.  Jon Crank went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI’s and Connor Ruffier also added two hits to lead the Leopards.

The most crucial play of the game came in the top of the seventh with the Braves holding a 5-2 lead.  Indian Valley’s Holden Fellers reached base via a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a passed ball.  Since there was only one out in the inning, Dusty Byers hit a sacrifice fly to left-center.  From the naked eye, it appeared that Fellers left third base early and thus Louisville appealed.  However, the umpire ruled the tag good and Fellers came home for what was an extra insurance run at the time.  But this run was pivotal as it turned out to be the game-winning run.

Louisville gave Indian Valley all they could handle in the bottom of the seventh.  Kyle White and Ruffier both singled to start the inning.  After that Mike Kelly reached base on an error to load the bases.  Then all three runs in the inning came during Crank’s at-bat.  White scored on a wild pitch, Ruffier on a passed ball, and then Crank hit a sac fly to left-center bringing home Kelly to make it 6-5.

However, Braves pitcher Kyle Lehigh managed to get the final out to end the ball game.  Lehigh pitched the entire game, gave up just two earned runs and struck out three.  On the other side for the Leopards, Kelly also pitched a complete game, gave up 6 runs on 7 hits, but struck out 5.

The Leopards earlier two runs came in the third and fifth inning.  First, Alex Hollifield got caught between third and home and an overthrow allowed him to score.  Then in the fifth, Crank singled home Pavin Parks.

The Braves ripped the game wide open with a four-run fourth inning.  Fellers had a key two-run single in the inning and Shawn Mills also had an RBI.  Brandon Fox and Brady Byers also had two hits each for the Braves.

Game 2: Louisville 12, Indian Valley 11

Joey Duckworth delivered a 2 out, 2-run walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh to lift Louisville past Indian Valley 12-11.  The Leopards trailed the entire game and at one point faced a five-run deficit before overtaking the Braves.

Kelly, who went a perfect 3-for-3 for the game started the bottom of the seventh with a single to right.  Then Kelly Beatty's Sports Baseball Shirt 2012 Spring Sports Logosadvanced into scoring position after the pitcher’s check-down throw went wide of the first baseman’s glove.  With one out and first base open, the Braves elected to intentionally walk Crank.  So Louisville trailed 11-10, with Kelly representing the tying run at second and Crank the winning run on first.

Then a wild pitch allowed Kelly just enough time to beat the catcher’s throw as he slid safely into third.  Crank also advanced to second on the play leaving the Leopards one solid hit away from victory.  Two batters later Crank’s winning run became reality when Duckworth looped a shallow fly into right field that caromed off the outfielder’s glove allowing Louisville to win.

Early mistakes put the Leopards in a 4-0 hole early in the middle of the first inning, but Louisville immediately answered by cutting the lead in half in the bottom of the inning. Kelly singled to left to bring home White for the first run.  Then the Braves catcher overthrew the third baseman on a check-down that allowed Ruffier to come across the plate.

The Braves added three more runs in the top of the second, but Louisville rallied by bringing 11 batters to the plate and scoring five runs in the bottom of the inning.  Gabe Cozy walked to start the inning and then advanced to second on a passed ball.  Then Cozy got caught in a rundown after White grounded to the left side of the infield.  However, Cozy bulldozed through the tag forcing the Braves player to drop the ball.  Cozy took third and White slid safely into second.

Following that, Ruffier bunted aboard to load the bases.  A passed ball allowed everyone to move up a base and Cozy to score.  Next, Kelly drew a walk to reload the bases.  Then two batters later Riley Groves delivered a two-run double to the gap in right, scoring both White and Ruffier to cut the deficit to 7-5.

Duckworth followed by driving home Kelly.  Then three straight walks allowed Groves to score the tying run to make it 7-7 after two innings.  Groves would score the Leopards next run two innings later when Bryan Adams reached base via an error.

The Braves took an 11-8 lead into the bottom of the fifth.  Fellers went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI’s and scored 4 runs and Lehigh also added a pair of RBI’s to lead the Indian Valley offense.

Louisville shrunk the Indian Valley lead to 11-10 after picking up two runs in the fifth.  Crank singled home Ruffier for the first run.  Then Groves hit a sacrifice fly that brought home the tagging Kelly.  Two innings later, Louisville completed their monumental rally.

On the mound, Jordan Hughes shut down Indian Valley the final 2.1 innings to pick up his first career victory.  The win improves Louisville’s record to 10-5 on the year.

PICTURES

Game 1 Box Score

Team 123-456-7–R-H-E

Indian Valley 010-400-1–6-7-5

Louisville 001-010-3–5-9-1

Indian Valley Batting

Batting AB R H RBI BB SO
M Kennedy 3 0 0 0 1 1
H Fellers 2 1 1 2 1 0
K Lehigh 4 0 1 0 0 1
D Byers 2 0 0 1 1 0
B Fox 4 2 2 0 0 0
B Byers 3 1 2 0 0 0
G Fawcett 3 0 0 0 0 1
S Mills 3 1 1 1 0 2
J Davis 2 1 0 0 1 0
Totals 26 6 7 4 4 5
Batting
2B: B Byers
TB: H Fellers, K Lehigh, B Fox 2, B Byers 3, S Mills
RBI: H Fellers 2, D Byers, S Mills
S: H Fellers
SF: D Byers
SB: H Fellers 2, D Byers, S Mills
Quality At Bats

Team Total: 16 (50.00%)

M Kennedy , H Fellers 4 , K Lehigh 2 , D Byers 2 , B Fox 2 , B Byers 2 , S Mills 2 ,J Davis

FieldingBeta
E: S Mills 2, J Gibson, M Kennedy, H Fellers

Indian Valley Pitching

Pitching O IP H R ER BB SO HR S%
K Lehigh 21 7.0 9 5 2 0 3 0 70.9%
Totals 21 7.0 9 5 2 0 3 0 70.9%
Pitching
Win: K Lehigh
Wild Pitch: K Lehigh
Pitches-Strikes: K Lehigh 110-78
Groundouts-Flyouts: K Lehigh 6-11
First-pitch strikes-Batters faced: K Lehigh 18-32

Louisville Leopards Batting

Batting AB R H RBI BB SO
K White 3 1 1 0 0 0
C Ruffier 4 1 2 0 0 0
M Kelly 4 1 0 0 0 0
J Crank 3 0 3 2 0 0
C Neff 4 0 0 0 0 3
R Groves 3 0 0 0 0 0
G Yoder 3 0 1 0 0 0
A Hollifield 3 1 1 0 0 0
P Parks 3 1 1 0 0 0
Totals 30 5 9 2 0 3
Batting
TB: K White, C Ruffier 2, J Crank 3, G Yoder, A Hollifield, P Parks
RBI: J Crank 2
S: K White
SF: J Crank
ROE: M Kelly 2, P Parks
PO: C Ruffier
Quality At Bats

Team Total: 13 (40.62%)

K White 2 , C Ruffier , J Crank 4 , C Neff 2 , R Groves , G Yoder , A Hollifield ,P Parks

FieldingBeta
E: G Yoder

Louisville Leopards Pitching

Pitching O IP H R ER BB SO HR S%
M Kelly 21 7.0 7 6 6 4 5 0 62.2%
Totals 21 7.0 7 6 6 4 5 0 62.2%
Pitching
Loss: M Kelly
Pitches-Strikes: M Kelly 119-74
Groundouts-Flyouts: M Kelly 7-9
First-pitch strikes-Batters faced: M Kelly 23-32

Game 2 Box Score

Team 123-456-7–R-H-E

Indian Valley 432-020-0–11-9-4

Louisville 250-120-2–12-13-1

Indian Valley Batting

Batting AB R H RBI BB SO
M Kennedy 3 2 1 0 2 1
H Fellers 4 4 3 2 1 1
K Lehigh 5 1 2 2 0 0
D Byers 2 0 0 1 1 2
B Fox 2 2 0 1 2 0
B Byers 4 0 1 1 1 1
N Rennicker 2 0 0 0 3 1
C Gibson 1 0 0 0 0 1
J Davis 2 2 1 0 2 0
S Mills 3 0 1 1 1 1
B Rentsch 1 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 29 11 9 8 13 8
Batting
2B: K Lehigh, J Davis
TB: M Kennedy, H Fellers 3, K Lehigh 3, B Byers, J Davis 2, S Mills
RBI: H Fellers 2, K Lehigh 2, D Byers, B Fox, B Byers, S Mills
SF: D Byers, B Fox
ROE: N Rennicker
FC: M Kennedy, J Davis
SB: M Kennedy, H Fellers, D Byers, B Byers, J Davis
Quality At Bats

Team Total: 21 (47.73%)

M Kennedy 2 , H Fellers 2 , K Lehigh 3 , D Byers , B Fox 2 , B Byers 3 ,N Rennicker 4 , J Davis 2 , S Mills 2

FieldingBeta
E: J Davis, N Rennicker 2, S Mills

Indian Valley Pitching

Pitching O IP H R ER BB SO HR S%
H Fellers 5 1.2 5 7 6 5 1 0 50.7%
S Mills 15 5.0 8 5 5 5 5 0 53.8%
Totals 20 6.2 13 12 11 10 6 0 52.6%
Pitching
Loss: H Fellers
Wild Pitch: S Mills
Pitches-Strikes: H Fellers 69-35, S Mills 106-57
Groundouts-Flyouts: H Fellers 1-1, S Mills 3-2
First-pitch strikes-Batters faced: H Fellers 10-18, S Mills 14-27

Louisville Leopards Batting

Batting AB R H RBI BB SO
K White 5 2 1 0 0 2
C Ruffier 3 3 2 0 2 1
M Kelly 3 3 3 1 2 0
J Crank 3 1 1 1 2 1
R Groves 4 2 2 3 0 1
J Duckworth 5 0 2 3 0 0
J Hughes 3 0 1 0 1 0
B Adams 2 0 0 0 2 0
G Cozy 1 1 1 1 1 0
A Hollifield 2 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 31 12 13 9 10 6
Batting
2B: R Groves
TB: K White, C Ruffier 2, M Kelly 3, J Crank, R Groves 3, J Duckworth 2,J Hughes, G Cozy
RBI: M Kelly, J Crank, R Groves 3, J Duckworth 3, G Cozy
SF: R Groves
ROE: J Duckworth, B Adams
FC: K White, J Crank, J Hughes, B Adams
CS: J Crank 2, J Duckworth
PO: C Ruffier
Quality At Bats

Team Total: 25 (59.52%)

K White 3 , C Ruffier 2 , M Kelly 4 , J Crank 3 , R Groves 4 , J Duckworth 4 ,B Adams 2 , G Cozy 2 , A Hollifield

FieldingBeta
E: J Crank

Louisville Leopards Pitching

Pitching O IP H R ER BB SO HR S%
G Cozy 7 2.1 5 8 8 6 4 0 40.6%
A Hollifield 7 2.1 4 3 3 6 3 0 50.8%
J Hughes 7 2.1 0 0 0 1 1 0 67.9%
Totals 21 7.0 9 11 11 13 8 0 49.4%
Pitching
Win: J Hughes
Wild Pitch: G Cozy 5
Pitches-Strikes: G Cozy 69-28, A Hollifield 63-32, J Hughes 28-19
Groundouts-Flyouts: G Cozy 0-3, A Hollifield 2-1, J Hughes 1-4
First-pitch strikes-Batters faced: G Cozy 9-19, A Hollifield 7-17, J Hughes 7-9

Records: Louisville 10-5

NEXT UP: The Leps will next host the Salem Quakers on Tuesday, April 24 at 4:30 PM.  JV will travel to Salem during the same time.

JV/FRESHMAN: Both games were cancelled with no make-up date set at this time.

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