MOUNT WASHINGTON – It wasn’t a great week for the Bullitt East Chargers on the baseball diamond, but the red and gold did win the most important game on Saturday when they turned back 24th District rival Fern Creek 8-2 in a rematch of last season’s Sixth Region championship game.
Otherwise, the week was a losing proposition as the Chargers went 2-3 against some top-flight competition. There was a disappointing 14-1 loss to Ballard to start the week, but the team bounced back to defeat Christian Academy 12-3. A trip to Lexington on Friday resulted in a 14-7 loss to Lexington Catholic.
That set up a rare ‘split’ doubleheader on Saturday that had Bullitt East playing back-to-back games against two different teams. The Chargers had issues in the first game, falling to Male 10-3. Against Fern Creek in the second game, a game that had to be rescheduled from a few weeks earlier, the Chargers got a sterling pitching performance from junior Devin Elder to beat the Tigers 8-2.
The win over Fern Creek gave Bullitt East the number one seed for the upcoming 24th District tournament that will be played the week of May 20 at Whitefield Academy. Normally, the number one seed is important in this district, but with Jeffersontown and Whitefield having difficult seasons, the Chargers and Tigers are pretty much assured of meeting in the championship game with both teams advancing to the Sixth Region Tournament.
The win was the fifth straight for the Chargers over their northern rivals. Fern Creek has only beaten Bullitt East three times since the 2007 season, but two of those wins came in the 24th District tournament in 2021 and 2017.
After the losses to Lexington Catholic and Male, Bullitt East needed a stop and they got it from Elder. The junior allowed just two hits, a pair of back-to-back home runs in the first inning, and then did not allow a runner past second base.
Elder ended up throwing 100 pitches over seven innings for the win. Both runs were earned. Elder walked just one while striking out 11.
“Devin Elder was the story tonight with those two hits and the two home runs with the wind blowing out,” veteran Bullitt East head coach Jeff Bowles said after the game. “He might have been a little juiced up with it being Saturday night under the lights.”
The Chargers rallied with three runs in the bottom of the third and then blew the game open with five runs in the sixth. Bullitt East finished the game with nine hits.
The rally in the third inning began when sophomore Dee Simpson, in his first varsity start, led off the inning with a walk and then moved to second on a wild pitch. Bryce Elder then singled back up the middle and the speedy Simpson came around the score. On the throw to the plate, Bryce Elder went to second.
The third consecutive left-handed hitter for the Chargers in the line-up, Chase Meredith, got the bunt down and then beat the throw with the runner moving to third. Meredith then moved up on a passed ball. The second run of the inning then scored when junior Luke Renfrow hit a deep sacrifice fly. Bullitt East then moved ahead with two outs when Connor Sauss singled, scoring Meredith.
The big sixth inning started with an out, but then Caden Phelps singled. Ty Hayden came in to bat for Simpson and he walked. The first run then scored when Bryce Elder doubled. After a walk to Meredith loaded the bases, Renfrow connected on a double to left field that scored a pair of runs. Devin Elder then helped his own cause with a single that scored both Renfrow and Meredith.
The rest of the week was just a mixed bag for the Chargers.
On Monday against Ballard the game was close as Devin Elder worked into the fifth inning before the Bruins just exploded, scoring 12 times against four Bullitt East pitchers. Bullitt East had just four hits in the game including a double by Meredith.
The Chargers reversed the outcome a day later, beating visiting Christian Academy 12-3. Both teams had seven hits in the game, but Bullitt East benefitted from five Centurion errors as well as walking eight times.
The only extra base hit for the Chargers was a double by Bryce Elder, the team’s lead-off hitter who had two hits in the win.
The win on the mound went to freshman Keeton Kleinhenz as he worked five innings, allowing five hits and one earned run. Bryson Sharp, Ethan Wolfe and Garrison Miller all pitched in the last two innings.
The Friday night trip to Lexington was a disappointment as the Chargers had a 5-0 lead after batting in the top of the second only to have the home team score at least one run in each of the next five innings, including four runs in the second and fifth innings.
Sauss was the starting pitcher and worked into the fifth inning, taking the loss. Sharp and Miller worked in relief.
Bullitt East had eight hits in the loss with half of those being doubles by Sauss, Jack Willard, Meredith and Devin Elder.
In the first game on Saturday, Male pounded out 16 hits and beat the Chargers 10-3. Bullitt East scored twice in the bottom of the first, but then gave up three in the top of the second and never led again.
Bullitt East senior Kendall Henson got the start, but did not have his best stuff, allowing 12 hits and six runs, five of those earned. Sharp and Chase Litton also pitched.
The red and gold had six hits, but the only extra base hit was a double by Renfrow.
After playing St. Xavier earlier this week, the Chargers will be at home on Thursday and Friday for games against Holy Cross and North Oldham, respectively. After a short Derby break, the Chargers will play Male again on Monday and a home game on Tuesday against Butler. The Chargers on Wednesday will travel to Eastern in a rematch of last season’s state tournament game that Eastern won 7-5 in 11 innings.