LEXINGTON — Whitley County entered the KHSAA State Baseball Tournament as one of the favorites to win it all.
Apollo had other plans.
The Eagles stunned the No. 2-ranked Colonels on Friday at Legends Field, handing Whitley County a 5-3 defeat in first-round action and bringing an end to one of the greatest seasons in program history.
Jeremy Shope’s Colonels entered the tournament with a 38-3 record, the state’s top RPI rating and fresh off their third 13th Region championship. But Apollo used a four-run fourth inning and timely pitching to advance to the state quarterfinals.
Whitley County struggled at the plate throughout much of the afternoon, failing to record its first hit until Kip Allen doubled in the fifth inning.
By that point, the Colonels were already trailing 4-0.
The Eagles (22-12) broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning when Gunnar Hendricks blasted a three-run home run. The Eagles added another run later in the frame to seize a 4-0 advantage.
The Colonels finally answered in the top of the fifth. Kip Allen’s double sparked the offense and led to Whitley County’s first run and cut the deficit to 4-1.
Apollo pushed its lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI single by Ryleigh Logan.
Whitley mounted another rally in the sixth inning.
Ethan Allen scored after reaching base due to a walk while Henry Bowling was hit by a pitch. Cooper Parman and Luke Hillard followed with consecutive run-scoring hits to trim Apollo’s lead to 5-3. The Colonels had runners on first and second with a chance to do even more damage with no outs, but the Eagles escaped the inning without allowing another run.
Apollo pitchers Riley Milburn and Isaac James shut the door from there.
Milburn worked five innings, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out five. James tossed two scoreless innings in relief to earn the save.
Whitley County managed only three hits in the loss. Allen doubled and scored while Parman and Hillard each recorded a hit and RBI.
Ethan Allen started on the mound and struck out six in four innings. Hillard and Eli Powers combined to provide relief work as the Colonels held Apollo scoreless over the final two innings.
Apollo finished with seven hits, led by Hendricks, who went 1-for-2 with a three-run homer and three RBI. Jagger Pate added two hits and an RBI while Jackson Carder collected two hits.
