(From Dubois County) 1614 enthusiastic Bomber fans witnessed one of the most thrilling games of the year as the Dubois County Bombers scratched out an 11-10 extra inning victory over the Madisonville Miners last night.
Neither team would claim it was the best-played ballgame of the season, but the roller coaster ride provided a series of highs and lows for fans of both squads.
The game had the makings of a pitcher’s duel. Bombers head coach Andy Lasher sent Ryan Dills to the mound. Dills is the only pitcher in the Ohio Valley League that has already collected five wins on the season. Madisonville coach Jared Franklin countered with Drew Mullinax, putting his 3-1 record on the line as the Miners strove to close to within two games of the league-leading Bombers with the season winding down.
In a manner similar to a football game between a down-the-field passing team playing against a grind-it-out three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense, the game developed into a contrast of styles early on. Before it was over, the Bombers would score in seven of the ten innings played, but never tallying more than two runs in a frame. By contrast, Madisonville only scored in two innings, but made the most of them, pushing four runs across the plate in the second and six more in the eighth.
The Bombers took the early lead in the first inning. Nick Gobert doubled and scored on a Drake McNamara single.
Madisonville responded immediately with their first big inning. Five Miners singled. Mix in one of the four Bomber errors committed on the evening, and the Miners had a 4-1 lead after an inning and a half.
But Dubois County added a run in the second without a base hit to close it to 4-2.
The Bombers utilized the exceptional speed of Daniel Johnson and Devyn Newberry to tie the game in the third inning. Johnson and Newberry singled to lead off the inning. With runners on the corners and one out, Newberry took off for second with Mullinax on the rubber. It appeared Mullinax would be able to pick him off, but Newberry arrived safely while Johnson started a dash home from third. He too appeared to be in jeopardy on the bases, but somehow managed to elude a tag attempt by the Miners catcher, sliding in to score as Newberry advanced on to third. Newberry came in to score later in the inning, tying the game at four.
Dubois County plated two more in the fifth. Johnson singled and was sacrificed to second. With two down, Madisonville chose to intentionally walk McNamara and pitch to Noah Sadler. Sadler responded by hammering a triple to the warning track, driving in two runs.
The Bombers stretched the margin to 8-4 in the seventh when Johnson singled, Gobert doubled him in, and Sadler collected his third RBI of the game.
All told, the Bombers had scored seven consecutive runs scattered over six innings to turn a 4-1 deficit into an 8-4 advantage. But tides come in, and tides go out.
Madisonville sent twelve batters to the plate in the eighth inning, facing four different Dubois County pitchers. Six hits, a walk, an error, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly produced six Miner runs. Zach Freeman came out of the Bomber bullpen to finally get the final out, but not before the Miners had taken a 10-8 lead.
Down to their last at bat in the bottom of the ninth, Dubois County tied the game. With two down and the bases loaded, Morgan DePew drove a ball to the outfield scoring Newberry and McNamara, knotting the contest at 10-10 and forcing extra innings.
Having retired the Miners in order in the ninth, Freeman stayed on to pitch the 10th. Madisonville came up empty again.
The trend of the evening had been for the Bombers to score more often than not, even if it was in smaller bunches on this night. In the bottom of the tenth, they would only need one.
Thomas Rea opened the inning with a double. He tagged and advanced to third when Johnson flew out to deep right field. After the Miners walked Newberry, Nick Gobert came to the plate. Rea raced home with the winning run when Gobert pushed a squeeze bunt to the right side of the infield.
Zach Freeman gets the win in relief. His record improves to 3-3. Colin Hudson takes the loss, squaring his record at 2-2.
Bombers offensive standouts included Johnson with three singles, Gobert with a pair of doubles, and Sadler with a pair of hits including the big 2-rbi triple.
Conner Moss and Matt Walsh both had 3-hit nights for the Miners.
With the win, the Bombers record improves to 22-11. Madisonville drops to 17-14. They remain in third place, four games off of the Bombers league-leading pace.
Dubois County will be home again tonight, hosting the 12-19 Hoppers. Madisonville will play a home double header against Owensboro. Complete Box Scores Click Here.
