The Christian County Colonels got hot at the right time and rallied late to defeat University Heights Academy 2-1 Tuesday night in the District 8 Baseball Tournament at Chris Simmons Field.
UHA pitcher Hayden Hunt, who has signed with Indiana State, held the Colonels (21-15) hitless for four innings and only allowed a single to Dylan Sweeney through five innings.
Trailing 1-0, Gage Montes greeted Hunt with a single to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. Chase Fort laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Montes to second. Senior Blake Boehman then ripped a double into the left-centerfield gap to score Montes to tie the game at 1-1.
Hunt got out of the jam by picking Boehman off at second base and then struck out Gavin Mitchell. Hunt would pitch six inning and strike out five, while walking two and giving up three hits.
In the top of the seventh, Christian County relief pitcher Sebastian Dazey hit Jackson Flynn to lead off the inning. Sweeney made a tremendous play at second base to retire Flynn on a fielder’s choice. After Thomas Hallmark struck out, Sweeney made another good play up the middle to force out Aiden Jones for the third out.
UHA (26-8) brought in Jaiden Miles to relieve Hunt in the bottom of the seventh. Dazey lined a single into left field, but the ball was misplayed allowing Dazey to advance to second base. The Blazers intentionally walked Andrew Mayes and Sweeney was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
With no outs and the infield drawn in, Miles struck out Johnny Lewis. However, Montes worked a full count and fouled off six straight pitches before drawing a walk to force Dazey home with the game-winning run.
Montes said he was just trying to be patient and put the ball in play.
The Blazers took the lead in the top of the first inning as Hunt had a two-out single. He came around to score on a double in the right field gap by AJ Hogart.
However, UHA did not get another hit in the game as Eddie Davis worked six innings, striking out striking out three and walking three.
Blazers’ coach Michael Crow said the loss was a tough pill to swallow.
Dazey picked up the pitching win, as he went one inning with one strikeout. Miles suffered the pitching loss.
For the Colonels, it was the first District 8 Tournament title since 2023. But Christian County Head Coach Cole Isom said his team can’t rest on the district title.
Both teams advance to the Region 2 Tournament, which will be played next week at UHA. The draw is expected to held later this week.
Members of the All-District 8 Team included Boehman, Lewis, Layton Creamer, Montes, Fort, and Gavin Mitchell from Christian County. UHA was represented by Cadence Gibson, Hogart, Courtland Gibson, Hunt, and Jackson Flynn. Fort Campbell was represented by Mike Anderson, Cohen Brunner, and Jay Katz.
Score by Innings:
University Heights 100 000 0 – 1 2 2
Christian County 000 001 1 – 2 4 0
WP – Dazey (1 IP, 1 SO, 0 BB).
LP – Miles (1.3 IP, 1 SO, 2 BB).
Leading Hitters: UHA – Hunt (1B), Hogart (2B); CCHS – Montes (1B), Boehman (2B), Dazey (1B), Sweeney (1B).
Photos by Peyton Biaquis