The Oldham County Colonels (13-4) fell 11-0 by run-rule in the sixth inning in a Saturday morning game against the Eastern Eagles (10-5) on April 13 at Eastern High School.
“We just have to play better than that,” Oldham County head coach Bo Akers said.
Junior Clay Cartledge started the game for Oldham County. He threw three innings with one strikeout. Junior Joe Siderewicz threw two innings while senior William Kieswetter finished the game throwing one inning.
“Clay is starting to throw more and more for us, because he’s having a lot of success,” Akers said. “We think very highly of him as a pitcher, and he’s done a good job for us this year. I thought he did a pretty good job in his start today.”
Senior Landon Waugh threw five innings allowing two hits and throwing nine strikeouts for Eastern. Senior Ryan Stich closed out the game with one inning of work.
The game opened with a single by Eagle junior Ethan Carroll. Colonel senior Levi Wade caught a fly ball in the next at bat and threw out Carroll at first base for a double play. Cartledge ended the top of the first inning with a fly out. Oldham County put a runner on base with a walk, but Waugh ended the first inning with a strikeout.
Senior Ryan Eubanks had another lead-off single for Eastern before sophomore Logan Edsell caught a line drive in the next at bat and threw Eubanks out for another Colonel double play. Eagle junior Ryan Boswell picked up a two-out single, but senior Logan Simpson prevented another single, hitting the ball down on a line drive to force an out to end the top of the second.
The second inning ended with an Oldham County three up, three down bottom of the second. The Eastern bats started to get going in the top of the third. Waugh led off with a single followed by a walk and a bunt single by senior Brayden Nettles to load the bases. A wild pitch scored the first run of the game.
The Eagles added two more runs to their total on the next pitch with a two-run single by junior Carson Shee, giving them a 3-0 lead. Cartledge got out of the top of the third inning with Shee getting caught stealing, a pop up and a strikeout. The Colonels went three up, three down to end the third inning.
Siderewicz came into pitch for Oldham County to start the fourth inning. Junior Aidan Calhoun led off with a double before stealing third base. After a walk, a ground out allowed Calhoun to score. Siderewicz got out of the inning with a strikeout and fly out.
The Colonels picked up their first hit on a two-out double by senior Coen Ball. A walk allowed Ball to steal third base and put runners at the corners, but Waugh left them stranded with a strikeout, ending the fourth inning.
Nettles singled to begin the fifth inning followed by a walk. A wild pitch scored Nettles for the Eagles. Calhoun hit an RBI single, and another wild pitch allowed Calhoun to score, giving Eastern a 7-0 lead. Junior Jackson Martin doubled to lead off the bottom of the fifth for the Colonels but was left stranded to end the fifth.
Eastern closed out the game in the sixth inning. With two runners in scoring position, Nettles added a run with a sacrifice fly. The Eagles scored on an error before a two-run home run by Eubanks put them in run-rule position. Stich closed out the game with a fly out in the bottom of the sixth, giving Eastern an 11-0 run-rule win.
“Every day is a new day on a high school baseball field,” Akers said. “[Waugh] threw really well for them. He mixed speeds really well. He had control of everything, and we couldn’t figure him out. Every once in a while you run into that. I’m confident that based on our performances in the first 17 games, we are scoring about eight and a half a game, that’s not going to just dry out. It’s one of those where if it continues to happen, then we will look to make major adjustments, but for right now, it’s kind of just a tough day.”
Oldham County will host the Christian Academy-Louisville Centurions (7-6) on Monday, April 15 at 6 p.m.
“We’ll see how we respond.” Akers said. “Every team is different. I’ve really liked how this team has handled everything else they’ve gone through this year. This is a little bit of an unknown, but that’s really the next challenge is to respond and go back to playing baseball the way we’re capable of playing.”