By Don Brown

News-Gazette Sports Reporter

dbrown@gcnewsgazette.com

The Cougar baseball team continued to pound the ball in the preseason Saturday afternoon as they rolled past visiting Breckinridge County 12-1 in the final scrimmage game of the season.

The Cougars then got the regular season schedule off to a spectacular start with a five-inning, 11-0 win over visiting Meade County on Monday. Senior Jordan White pitched all five innings to record the win, called after five by the 10-run rule.

The Cougar bats have been thundering in the early going. Grayson County scored 11 runs in their first scrimmage game last week against Muhlenberg North, then put up 12 against the Tigers on Saturday.

Six pitchers saw action in the final scrimmage game, with only sophomore Tyler Saltsman pitching more than one inning. They allowed just two hits and recorded 10 strikeouts.

White started the first inning for the Cougars and gave up the only run of the day. He walked the first two Tiger batters before striking out the next two. Daniel Vessels then hit a little looper that fell in in left field to drive in the Tigers’ only run. White then struck out catcher Gaston Glasscock to end the inning.

Saltsman pitched the next two innings and allowed no hits. He walked one and struck out two. Sophomore Mike Scott pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning, then senior Greg Rainey did the same in the fifth, striking out all three batters he faced.

Senior Tristan Willis pitched out of a jam in the sixth inning without allowing a run. With two outs, the Tigers loaded the bases on a Cougar error, a walk and a hit-batsman, but Willis induced Vessels to ground out to Rainey at third to end the threat. Willis struck out two Tigers.

Junior Alphonso Soto pitched the seventh. He also got into a bases-loaded, two-out jam jam on a pair of singles and a walk, but he struck out shortstop Dustin Lucas to end the game.

The Cougars wasted little time in taking the lead in the bottom of the first. Senior Sean Embry led off with a single, then scored when White ripped a double to the fence in right-center. White finished the day with three hits and five runs driven in.

After Saltsman grounded out, White scored when Soto’s liner was dropped in center-field for a three-base error. Rainey followed with a single to drive in Soto and the Cougars took the lead for good, 3-1.

They added four more runs in the second inning. Eighth-grade second-baseman Brady Clemons led off with a sharp single to left, then was sacrificed to second by Embry. White reached on an error, with Clemons going to third. White then reached second on a wild pitch.

Soto drove in both runners with a single up the middle. Rainey followed with his second hit of the day, a double to the wall in right-center which allowed Soto to score all the way from first.

Mike Scott then reached on an error and Rainey came home on the overthrow at first.

The Cougars added two more runs in the fifth. Clemons walked with one out. After Embry flew out for the second out, White blasted a ball over the wall in center field for a two-run home run.

The Cougars then added three more runs in the sixth after two were out. Junior catcher Adrian Board beat out a bunt for a hit, then reached second on an errant pickoff attempt.

Clemons followed with a ball that was dropped again in center and Board came in to score. After Embry walked, White drove both runners home with another double.

The Cougars are scheduled to play at Owensboro on Thursday, then will take part in the PRP Classic, playing three games in Louisville over the weekend.