CRESTVIEW — Seth Thomason scored on a walk-off single by Austin Armstrong in the bottom of the 10th inning as Crestview High School beat Lexington (Ky.) Christian Academy 4-3 Friday night.
"It was a fastball right down the middle, and I was looking for it," Armstrong said of his game-winning hit.
Photo gallery >>>Crestview vs.Lexington Christian Academy.
As has been the case numerous times this season, the Bulldogs (17-4) fell behind early and rallied late, taking another come-from-behind win.
"We've been playing well and I'm proud of these guys," Bulldog coach Tim Gillis said. "They keep fighting and keep rallying until the end. We were down three in the fifth and we got one each inning to tie it up.
"We swung the bats well all night, but we hit some balls right at them. Early in the game, things didn't go our way, but these guys are resilient. What a win."
The Eagles scored a run in the first, third and fifth innings, taking a 3-0 lead over Crestview and Bulldog starting pitcher Davis Champion.
Champion worked 6 1/3 innings on the hill, scattering seven hits and striking out eight Eagle batters while giving up two earned runs and two walks.
Roman Donofro — who replaced Champion with one out in the top of the seventh — picked up the win for Crestview. Donofro finished the last 3 2/3 innings, striking out four and giving up three hits.
Although scoreless through four innings, the Bulldog offense had been putting the ball into play, but the hits wouldn't fall Crestview's way.
Momentum slowly started to change as the Bulldogs pecked away for a run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, sending the game into the bonus frame.
Donofro singled, took second base on a wild pitch, moved to third on a Justin Abdo sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly off Dakota Dean’s bat.
Thomason singled and later scored on a Tate Sweatt hit in the sixth inning.
Crestview tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, when pinch hitter Hunter Sullivan walked, moved to third on a Dean single and scored on Tyler Henderson’s sacrifice fly.
Neither offense could generate anything through the eighth and ninth innings. Things turned in Crestview's favor when Thomason was safe at second on an Eagle error to start the 10th inning. That set the stage for Armstrong's walk-off base hit to win the game.
"It seems like we just come up at the right time and get the job done. That's all that matters," Thomason said. "As the game went along, we just kept our heads in the game.
"We were just getting base runners on everywhere, and that's all we needed. We just have been coming up big when we need to. Hopefully, we will get some runs in the first few innings next time."
The Bulldogs managed just eight hits against a trio of Eagle pitchers, but they only struck out three times as they put the ball in play throughout the game.
Dean led Crestview’s attack with two hits. Six other Bulldogs had one hit each.
Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bulldogs win another thriller (photo gallery)