Russell County 10, Greenwood 0.
Russell County kicked off their leg of the tournament in impressive fashion, collecting 12 hits and providing excellent pitching in a 10-0 shutout win over Greenwood.
After trading defensive punches with the Gators through multiple innings, the Lakers caught fire in the bottom of the fourth, scoring seven runs on four hits and multiple Greenwood miscues.
Throughout the first three innings, both teams saw runners stranded and multiple scoring opportunities blown.
After great pitching through the first three innings, Russell County batters began to get the best of Greenwood pitcher Dell Henk in the bottom of the fourth inning, as the Lakers loaded the bases before Connor Cline came on to replace the freshman on the mound.
Cline forced a 3-2 count on Russell County’s Kaleb Harris before Harris punished a double to the left field wall to clear the bases, giving the Lakers a 3-0 lead.
After replacing Cline on the mound with Mac Ausbrooks with runners on second and third, the Gators gave up two more runs on a single by Peyton Back and an error at third base, expanding the Lakers’ lead to 5-0.
Russell County continued to pour on in the bottom of the fourth inning when new pitcher Noah Cunningham walked Henry Bertram with the bases loaded and Justin Womack stole home on a wild pitch, blowing the Lakers’ lead open to 7-0 before a groundout by Briley Hadley finally ended the inning.
After a three up, three down outing by the Gators and a two-run double by Brayton Scales in the bottom of the fifth inning to give Russell County a 9-0 lead, Lucas Bault sealed the deal for the Lakers on an RBI single to center field to put the mercy rule into effect.
Scales picked up the win for the Lakers as he struck out six batters and gave up just three hits in the complete-game shutout.
“It feels to be able to get a win like this over a good Greenwood team,” said Scales. “It really gives our team a lot of confidence going into the semifinals.”
Russell County laid down 12 hits on the morning, including two apiece from Scales, Harris, Peyton Back, and Jackson Best. Of Greenwood’s three hits, two came from Henk.
With the win, Russell County will face Logan County in the semifinal round on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Nick Denes Field.
Logan County 10, Barren County 0.
Feeling a sour taste after a 9-0 loss to Franklin-Simpson in the 13th District Championship Game, Logan County righted the ship when it mattered the most, laying down eight hits on their way to a 10-0 shutout of Barren County.
The Cougars began to impose their will early, grabbing a comfortable 7-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning to give pitcher DJ Beard room to relax.
“It definitely calmed me down when we got the 7-0 lead considering how nervous I already was coming into the game,” said Beard, who pitched a complete-game shutout. “Any time you can get a big lead like that, you feel a lot better about trying to throw strikes and letting your defense make plays.”
“I thought we did everything we wanted to do today,” said Cougar head coach Ethan Meguiar. “We wanted to score early and try to get a little bit of pressure on them. I think everybody just kind of rode that out the rest of the way.”
Logan County began it’s run in the second inning when four straight hits gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead with only one out. Shortly after, an error at second base on the throw to first brought in Koby Wall and Jack Wright to expand Logan County’s lead to 4-0.
In the same inning, Kaleb Justice crushed a three-run triple to blow the lead open at 7-0 for the Cougars.
“It was good to be able to take advantage of some mistakes today and to be able to swing the bats like they should,” said Meguiar. “It’s good to have the momentum back on our side.”
The Cougars added three more insurance runs in the top of the 4th inning when a sac fly by Justice and a single by Third Bell stretched the Cougars lead to 10-0.
Of the Cougars’ eight hits on the afternoon, two of them came from Bell. The Trojans had five hits on the afternoon, all from different batters.
With the win, Logan County advances to play Russell County in Tuesday evening’s semifinal game at 5 p.m. at Nick Denes Field.
Logan County winning pitcher DJ Beard talks about the Cougars' 10-0 win over Barren Co. in the 4th Region Baseball Tourney quarterfinals. pic.twitter.com/rthTuJaykA
— The Sporting Times (@sportingtimes) May 29, 2017
Logan County head coach Ethan Meguiar talks about the Cougars 10-0 win over Barren County in the 4th Region Tourney quarterfinal. pic.twitter.com/GOeynQK2QR
— The Sporting Times (@sportingtimes) May 29, 2017
