By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

The Kentucky State Championship game was played last evening at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington, and the game did not disappoint the crowd of nearly 3500 people in attendance.

PRP came into the game looking for their fifth state championship since 1994, and sent senior right-hander Kyle Olliges, a Spalding University commit, to the mound.

Mercer County countered with junior Jackson Stoeckinger, and the stage was set to crown the 2013 KHSAA State Champ.

PRP mounted a threat in the top half of the second when Jonathon Cavanaugh drew a two-out walk, and Austin Beckman followed with an infield single to put runners at first and second base.  After a wild pitch advanced both runners into scoring position, Stoeckinger got Jacob Clair to fly out to left field to end the threat.

PRP would threaten again in the third, but this time the Panthers were able to get on the scoreboard.  Ryan Hart led off the inning with a single through the right side, and when Josh Beams beat out his bunt for a base hit, PRP was in business.  Blake Stewart followed with a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners, and Alex Miller grounded out to first base to score Hart and give PRP a 1-0 lead.

That lead would be short-lived as Mercer County got things going in the bottom half of the inning when Dylan Logue singled to left field, promptly stole second base, and scored on John Ingram’s double down the left field line to knot the score at 1-1.  After Layne Peavler beat out a bunt and advanced to second base, the Titans threatened to take the lead with their big hitters Russell Sims and Jon Banks coming to the plate.  With runners at second and third and no outs,  Olliges went to work getting back to back strikeouts of Sims and Banks, and a fly ball to end the inning.

PRP struck back quickly in the fourth when catcher Joseph Hatcher led off with a single to right field.  Kiron McKenzie entered the game to run for Hatcher and was bunted over to second base and scored on a single by Ryan Hart to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead.

Mercer County struck back in the bottom of the fifth after PRP committed their two errors of the night to allow the Titans to tie the game.  Olliges recorded the first two outs of the inning on strikeouts, but Peavler reached base safely on an infield error, stole second base, and scored on another infield error to make it a 2-2 game.

The game remained tied at 2 until the top half of the eighth when Blake Stewart stroked a triple down the right field line to begin the inning.  With the Titans’ infield in, Alex Miller grounded out to second base for the first out of the inning.  After Stoeckinger hit Hunter Johnson with a pitch to put runners at the corners, Hatcher laid down a perfectly executed bunt to the first base side to score Stewart for a 3-2 lead.

That set up Olliges, who recorded 10 strikeouts in the game, to take the mound for the last time in his high school career in an attempt to go out as State Champion, but Mercer County would not go down easily.

Sims led off the inning with an infield single and Banks followed with a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs, but Olliges proved to be a bulldog once again, getting Curry Brown to strike out, and recording the final two outs on a 5-4-3 double play to give PRP its fifth State Title since 1994, and first since 2008.