In the final two innings of Thursday night’s baseball game against Ohio County, the Eagles sent 19 batters to the plate and scored 10 times to turn what had been a tight, one-run game into a rout as the Eagles beat the Cougars 13-5.
This was a game that was played in two different segments. In the first segment, Grayson County’s Cain Smith and Ohio County’s Zach Gledhill were locked in a 2-2 pitchers duel. But with two outs in the bottom of the third inning, the game was delayed because of lightning in the area.
An hour and twenty minutes later, the game was resumed with head coach Danny Clark removing Cain in favor of sophomore right-hander Alex Scott, who immediately ran into trouble, not of his own making, in the top of the fourth.
With two outs and a runner on first, Scott induced center-fielder Jacob Jabczynski to hit a high, infield pop-up toward first base for what should have been the third out. However, Cougar first-baseman Rylee Shoemaker misjudged the ball and it glanced off his glove for an error, putting runners at the corners.
When Jabczynski stole second base, Cougar catcher Briley Napier tried for an out at third base, but instead threw the ball into left field, allowing the run to score and giving the Eagles a lead they would not give back.
Scott worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning, but was shelled in the sixth, giving up four runs on four hits, including a double and a run-scoring triple.
Trailing 7-2, the Cougars put together a rally in the bottom of the sixth. Braxton Hodges walked leading off and went to third when Smith roped a double into the left-field corner. Hodges scored and Smith moved to third on a passed ball by Ohio Catcher Brandon Bartlett. Smith then scored on a ground out by Damon Simon to make it 7-4.
With his team still in contention, Scott was pummeled again in the seventh inning, allowing six runs on six hits, including a bases-loaded triple by Jabczynski, the number-nine hitter who finished the game with four RBIs.
The Cougars tried to rally in their half of the seventh, but came up short. Trent Godby walked leading off, but was forced at second by Napier, who was replaced on the bases by Ryan Johnson.
Hodges singled to left, putting runner at first and second before Smith flied to left for the second out. Simon then hit a high fly ball to center for what should have been the final out of the game, but Jabczynski lost track of the ball somehow and it ticked off his glove for an error, allowing Johnson to scamper home, making it 13-5 and leaving runners at second and third.
But Gledhill made none of that matter by striking out Shoemaker to end the game. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 9-21 on the season.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
Shortstop Noah Bullock made a sliding stop in the hole
to retire Ohio County’s Kolton Lambert in the first inning.
