Grayson County’s varsity baseball team improved to 8-5 on the season with a 5-1 win over visiting Elizabethtown at Don Lee Field on Monday.

The Cougars got another strong performance on the mound from senior right-hander Jordan White and the offense pounded out 11 hits as they rolled past the Panthers.

White went the distance to pick up the victory for the Cougars, allowing just a single, unearned run on three hits. White walked four, hit two batters and struck out five.

The Panthers had runners at first and third with two outs in the first, but White struck out catcher Michael Thomas to end the inning. They put runners at second and third with no outs in the second but White retired the next three batters, two on strike outs, to get out of that jam.

The Panthers scored their only run in the third. An error, an infield single and a walk loaded the bases with one out. White struck out third-baseman Chris Goodman for the second out, but walked leadoff hitter Sean Bouthilette to drive in the run. White then closed out the inning by getting Ryan Lutz to ground out.

In the fifth, Panther second-baseman Zach Riney singled leading off, then stole second base. Riney went to third on a ground out, then tried to score when Thomas hit a fly ball to right. Cougar right-fielder Alphonso Soto threw the ball to cutoff man Tyler Saltsman, whose relay to Adrian Board at the plate was in time to nip Riney for an inning-ending double play. That turned out to be the last scoring threat for the Panthers as White was in control the rest of the way.

The Cougars got four hits in the first inning to score a run and take the lead off Panther right-hander Erin Pennington. With one out, White zapped a ball down the line, into the corner in right for a double. A single by Saltsman moved White to third before a single by Soto sent him home.

Greg Rainey forced Saltsman at third on a come-backer to Pennington before Mike Scott singled into right-center. Soto tried to score on the play, but was just cut down inches from the plate on a nice throw from right-fielder Beau Bouthilette.

The Cougars then put their stamp on the game with six hits in the third inning that accounted for four runs. White beat out an infield hit leading off, then was awarded second when the throw from second went into the Cougar dugout.

Saltsman then hit a ball deep into the hole at short and was able to beat that out for a hit. Soto and Rainey followed with fly balls that went for outs, but Mike Scott looped a ball into left for a hit to plate White to make it 3-0.

Tristan Willis followed with a single to left to drive in Saltsman and put runners at first and second once more. Board then bounced a ball high off the plate and was able to beat it out for a hit when it bounced away from Thomas at the plate. When Thomas finally did pick up the ball his throw got by Lutz at first and Scott scored on the error, with Willis going to third.

When Michael McCubbin followed with a single to drive in Willis, Pennington was replaced on the mound by left-hander Carter Elmore, who retired Sean Embry to end the inning.

Elmore did a fine job in relief for the Panthers, pitching the final three and one-third innings, giving up no runs on just a single hit.

The Cougars were coming off a successful Spring Break trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. After splitting their first two games on Wednesday, the Cougars lost a slugfest to Morristown West 14-10 on Thursday. On Saturday they defeated the host Pigeon Forge Tigers 13-6. Pigeon Forge is the defending Class 3A State Champion.