Bobcats hand Owensboro league crown

DEREK McCREE/The Crittenden Press

The Bobcats lost their final regular season game
but will host Fulton Tuesday in the postseason.

It was the shortest game in league history, ending the Ohio Valley League's first regular season with former Bobcats' skipper Steve Fowler and his Owensboro Oilers on top. Monday's resumption of a tie game suspended in the middle of the 11th earlier this month ended in 2 1/2 more innings of play, with visiting Oilers on top 8-6 in 13 innings.

The win for Fowler and his team left them a game ahead of Fulton for the league title. Ironically, the crown was won on the skipper's home field the last three years with the Bobcats, Guess Field.

A season that began with a roar for the Bobcats ended in a whimper, with Marion (19-22, 20-22 overall) losing 10 of their last 14 including the final four games of the season. July saw the first-place Bobcats plummet in the standings with an 8-16 record for the month. The Bobcats fared bettter on the road than at home, going 12-10 with one of those wins coming in interleague play. At home, Marion was only 7-12.

It was still the best season the Bobcats have ever had, and their manager, Kyle Medley, and the team have a new chance at glory beginning Tuesday when they host second-place Fulton for Game 1 of the best-of-three opening round series. The game will begin at 7:05 p.m. The final two games of the series would be played on the road at Lohaus Field. During the regular season, Marion held the advantage, beating the Railroaders eight of 14 times.

In the other first-round series, Owensboro takes on last-place Tradewater, traveling to Dawson Springs for Game 1 Tuesday and heading back home for the rest of the series.

The championship series will begin Friday.

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