(From Owensboro) The Owensboro Oilers won their Fourth of July home ballgame with the Tradewater Pirates, visitors from Madisonville. The final score was 4 to 1.
     For the second night in a row the Oilers rewarded the home faithful by jumping out to a multi-run lead, scoring three runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. Leadoff hitter Tyler Grogg started by reaching safely on a bunt. Matt Johnson followed with a double. With runners on second base and third base, Austin Edge also doubled for the 2 available RBIs. A groundout later, Edge was in position to score the third run on a RBI single by Colin Buckner.
     The score remained 3-0 until the Pirates scored their only run in the top of the 6th inning. With one out, Ethan Blumenthal reached and advanced to second base on a defensive error. He moved to third on a foul fly out. Cody Hyden delivered a two-out RBI single to score Blumenthal.
     Owensboro declared independence from June scenarios by getting that one run back in the bottom of the same inning. Dalton West led off with a walk, but got cut down trying to steal second base. Brendon Hardin re-started with a single and stole second base. A groundout moved Hardin to third base. He scored from there on a wild pitch.
     The score had reached 4 to 1 for the Oilers by the end of six innings. The lead was the same going into the top of the 9th inning -- it was just a matter of keeping it that way. Joe Black led off for the Pirates by grounding out. It became less easy from there. Trevor Haggard and Logan Leverett singled back-to-back, then Blake Massey walked. The bases were loaded. The Oilers brought in Tim Johnson,  who needed only four pitches to induce a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
     Mason Morris started and won the game working 7.33 innings without walking a batter. Jonathan Brinez pitched the inning of work between Morris and the Johnson save from just 0.67 of an inning. The loss went to Pirates starter Chad Cox.