FRENCH LICK
With two outs on the board, trailing 3-2 in the top of the seventh inning, Trinity Lutheran’s Jake Moore hit an RBI single in clutch fashion to keep his team in the postseason.
Despite the late comeback, the Cougars gave up a run in the bottom of the inning as they fell 4-3 to West Washington in the Class A Springs Valley Sectional semifinals Saturday.
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“(Moore) been our hot hitter all year long and I felt comfortable with him in that situation,” coach Bob Tabeling said. “He did it with a nice base hit. Unfortunately in the bottom of the seventh didn’t turn out we wanted. It was a very nice rally late to tie the game.”
The Cougars struggled offensivly throughout the game, as they finished with three hits.
“We scored our first two runs and didn’t have a hit yet,” Tabeling said. “They were getting ahead with the fastball and we weren’t adjusting well to it. We didn’t have a lot of good plate appearances. You gotta tip your hat to them for that, but we didn’t hit the ball like we have been the last six or seven games.”
Following a scoreless two innings, the Cougars got on the boards first when senior Caleb Reedy scored on a Senators overthrow.
The Senators responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a score off a passed ball at the plate.
In the fifth, the Cougar retook the lead on another mental mistake by the Senators on the mound.
The seems momentarily came apart for the Cougars in the sixth as they allowed scores off an RBI single and double, as they trailed 3-2.
Following the tie in the top of the seventh, the Senators were able to get a runner to second base off a single and steal.
An hard RBI single put the game away, as the Senators won in walk-off fashion with two outs.
Reedy and Tyler Wenig will graduate from the Cougars’ program.
“We’re losing those two seniors and we will have eight guys returning,” Tabeling said. “We look forward to returning them, we just thought we had more in us this year.
“Caleb has been starting in multiple positions in his career. It’s a big plus for the program having him. Tyler has been rehabing injury the past couple of years but hes’ a kid that comes out and hits when we ask him to hit. It shows his dedication to the program. Every time we asked him to, he took it head on. Those two guys are going to be missed. Those two men helped us out a lot.”
The Cougars finished 10-15 for their 2015 campaign.