Shelby Valley and Paintsville duked it out in a late season 15th region showdown with outstanding pitching and defense by both teams.

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Cory Vance

The Wildcats and Tigers needed an extra inning to settle things, but when the dust settled, the Tigers won with dramatic walk-off. 

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Cory Vance

Paintsville picked up a 4-3 win in eight innings at Charlie Adkins Field this last Tuesday.

Shelby Valley got the party started early in the top of the first inning when Lincoln Taylor drove in two runs on a double to give Shelby Valley the early 2-0 in the top of the first inning.

Paintsville was looking to break the ice with a golden opportunity in the bottom of the fourth inning.

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Cory Vance

The Tigers were looking to score after with a runner on third base and with two outs in the inning. 

Shelby Valley pitcher Riley Newsome was able to shutdown the Tigers’ scoring threat by striking out the next Tigers’ batter to end the fourth inning with Shelby Valley still leading 2-0.

The Tigers got on the board in the sixth.

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Cory Vance

Paintsville’s Alex Kimbler drove in a run on a single to cut Shelby Valley’s lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning.

A couple of batters later, the Tigers were able to tie the game at 2-2 when Brody Howell drove in a run on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the sixth inning.

A two-out single by Lukas Stewart gave Paintsville runners on first and second, but the Wildcats spoiled the Tigers’ rally by getting the next Paintsville batter to ground out to end the sixth inning with the game now tied at 2-2.

In the top of the eighth inning, Shelby Valley was able to score again when Gavin Tackett was able to reach on an error allowing another Wildcat run to score. Shelby Valley held a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the eight.

Kimbler hit a lead off double for Paintsville. Shane Blair followed with a single. 

On the next at-bat, Howell drove in a run on a ground out to tie the game at 3-3.

That set the stage for Stewart. He delivered the devastating blow to the Wildcats when he hit a one out RBI walk-off single to dive in the winning run.

Luke Stratton got the win on the mound for Paintsville going four innings giving up one run (zero earned) on one hit, while striking out four batters, and walking zero batters. 

Kimbler led the Tigers at the plate going three for three with a double, one RBI, two runs scored, and walked one time. Stewart was two of four at the plate with one RBI. Anderson Lauffer was one of four at the plate, with a double and one run scored.

With the win, Paintsville improved to 20-5 overall on the season. Next up for the Tigers will be Thursday May 15th on the road against the Prestonsburg Blackcats set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Then on Friday May 17 the season finale at home against the Ashland Blazer Tomcats set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Shelby Valley was led at the plate by Taylor who was two of four with a double and two RBIs. Kobe Fields was one of four at the plate. Brock Damron was one of four at the plate.

Newsome pitched a great game for the Wildcats, but he didn’t factor into the decision as he went seven innings giving up two runs (two earned) on five hits, while striking out nine batters and walking only one batter.

Unfortunately Colton Varney of the Wildcats’ took the loss on the mound going 1/3 of an inning giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits, while walking or striking out no batters.

With the loss, Shelby Valley fell to 4-18 overall on the season. Next up for the Wildcats will be Monday May 12th at home against the Floyd Central Cougars set to begin at 6:00 p.m. Then on Tuesday May 13 they travel to take on the Lawrence County Bulldogs set to begin at 6:00 p.m.