Those who stayed for all 12 innings Tuesday in what may have been the longest baseball game ever played at Harlan County High School saw a little bit of everything, including 17 runs, 19 hits and 13 errors.

They also saw an unlikely hero with the Black Bears’ top three pitchers all past their pitch limit as the game crawled into the 10th inning still tied at 8-8. Karsten Dixon, coming off an ugly loss during spring break in Georgia when the Bears blew a five-run lead in the last inning, came through with perhaps the best outings of his high school career. The senior right-hander shut out visiting Harlan over the final 2 1/3 innings on one hit as Harlan County won 9-8 on a walkoff error. Isaac Kelly singled with two outs, stole second and came around with the winning run when Tristan Cooper’s fly ball to right field was dropped.
“It was something he needed for his confidence. He took the loss in Georgia hard,” Harlan County coach Scotty Bailey said. “Karsten came in and was ready to go. He blistered my hand when he came off the mound between innings, so he was fired up. I was proud of Karsten. He’s a senior and deserves an opportunity like this.”
Harlan coach Lee Freyer was proud of his young team battled through the four-hour game despite fielding perhaps the 13th Region’s youngest lineup.
“That’s not for a team with two eighth-graders and four freshmen,” Freyer said. “It’s not an excuse, and it was an ugly game for both sides. I thought we had more chances to win the game than they did, but we squandered those. But they just kept fighting and fighting. It was a heck of game. Every game we’ve played this year has been a dogfight. The growth you see every day makes me super proud. We have a bright future, even though I want it now like anyone would.”
Alex Creech started on the mound for HCHS, pitching 7 2/3 innings in two stints, striking out 14 and walking four while allowing five runs (one earned) on five hits. Brayden Blakley allowed three runs on two his in two innings, with two strikeouts and four walks.
Kelly, Cooper and Carter Howard each had two hits to lead the 10-6 Bears, who improved to 4-0 in district action with their fifth-straight victory. Will Cassim, Jonah Swanner, Aiden Craig, Samuel Henson and Braydon Burton added one hit each.
“The boys kept battling. I thought we hit the ball pretty well, but we hit it at them and they had some boys make big plays,” Bailey said. “We settled down and kept our composure, and I was proud of them.”
Baylor Varner had a double and single to lead the 8-9 Dragons, who fell to 1-3 in district action. Jared Moore had two singles. Chris Rouse, Aiden Johnson, Eli Freyer and Jaedyn Gist added one single each.
Luke Luttrell started on the mound for Harlan and gave up five runs on seven hits, with two strikeouts and four walks. Moore pitched 6 2/3 innings in relief, giving up four runs (one earned) on four hits, with five strikeouts and five walks.
“Jared is an absolute bulldog out there. He’s a sophomore, but he has three years of varsity experience and I want him to step up more, and I thought he did that tonight,” Freyer said. “He really stepped up and pitched well. Luke pitched well also.”
Harlan grabbed an early lead as Varner doubled with one out and scored on Moore’s two-out single to left.
Jake Brewer was safe on an error to open the second inning and eventually scored the Dragons’ second run.
The Harlan County defense had two more errors in the third inning, leading to two more runs as Jaedyn Gist and Baylor Varner each scored after reached on a walk and error, respectively. Jared Moore’s fly ball into left field turned into a sacrifice fly when Brayden Blakley caught the ball running toward the outfield.
Harlan County scored its first run in the third inning after Henson recorded the Bears’ first hit following a walk to Howard. Burton’s ground out brought in Carter to cut the lead to 4-1.
Cassim and Craig had hits in the fourth inning as the Bears cut the deficit to 4-3 but missed a chance for a big inning when Howard caught trying to steal home with the bases loaded.
Varner singled in the fifth inning and scored on perhaps the most unusual play of the night on a ball hit behind first base by Moore. The ball dropped in the infield dirt for a hit as right fielder Carter Howard made a diving attempt on a ball the HCHS infielders didn’t take.
Harlan County pulled even in the bottom of the fifth. Cooper led off with a single, took second on a sacrifice by Brayden Blakley. Cassim brought in a run with a sacrifice fly on the second nice catch in left by Rouse. Swanner singled and Craig was hit by a pitch before Howard singled home the tying run. The Bears may have scored a second run on the play but the runner on second held as the ball bounced through the infield.
The Bears took the lead in the sixth as Cooper beat out a bunt hit and took second on an errant throw before scoring on Blakley’s ground out.
Harlan went back on top in the seventh as Gist singled and Varner walked before Freyer brought in the tying run with a hit to shortstop. The Dragons went up 7-6 when Blakley was called for a balk.
Carter’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh brought in Swanner to tie the game and force extra inning.
Harlan will play host to Knox Central on Thursday. Harlan County will play at Leslie County on Thursday. ———
Harlan 112 010 200 000 — 8. 8. 7
Harlan County 001 221 100 001 — 9 11 6
Luttrell, Moore (6) and Owens; Creech, Blakley (7), Creech (9), Dixon (10) and Kelly. WP — Dixon (3-1). LP — Moore (1-3).