Tell City falls to Forest Park 7-5 in extra innings

Tell City’s postseason run ended in extra innings at Joe Hargis Field, where Forest Park slipped past the Marksmen 7-5 in the IHSAA Class 2A Section 48 tournament at South Spencer High School. The loss closed out Tell City’s season on May 29 and sent Forest Park forward in the sectional bracket in Rockport.

The Rangers struck first on Hudson King’s RBI triple, but Tell City answered to tie it and keep the game moving as a true back-and-forth sectional battle. Forest Park then built a 4-1 lead in the third inning with a bases-loaded walk, an RBI single by Riley Begle and another RBI walk from Cam Lueken. Tell City fought back again in the fourth to even the score.

Forest Park briefly reclaimed the lead on a sacrifice fly in the fifth, but the Marksmen answered in the sixth to force extra innings. That set up the final turn in the eighth, when Jared Burger delivered an RBI double and Jaxon Lueken followed with an RBI single to push the Rangers ahead for good, 7-5. Forest Park then held Tell City scoreless over the final two innings, with Lueken striking out four to finish the game.

The defeat was another narrow one in a season series that stayed close from start to finish. Forest Park also beat Tell City 11-10 on April 15, another one-run game that went down to the seventh inning. For Perry County baseball, the sectional loss showed Tell City could trade punches with a familiar Southern Indiana opponent, but also that the Marksmen were not able to finish enough of the critical late chances that came with the season on the line.

Tell City Athletics acknowledged the result after the game, noting that the baseball team was defeated by Forest Park 7-5 in eight innings. Forest Park’s victory moved the Rangers on to face Evansville Mater Dei, which later beat Forest Park 9-6. The sectional itself ran May 27 through June 1, with Tell City’s game listed as Game 3 of the bracket, and the Marksmen now enter the offseason after a postseason exit defined by resilience, missed chances and one costly eighth inning.