PAIR|Beat North Bullitt 12-2,

fall to Warren East 8-7

The Cougar baseball team closed out its regular season at home last Saturday by splitting a pair of games.

In the morning opener, the Cougars rapped out 12 hits to beat the Eagles of North Bullitt 12-2 in six innings. In the second game, the Cougars dug themselves an 8-0 hole, then nearly climbed out before falling 8-7 to the Warren East Raiders.

The Cougars finished the regular season with an excellent 26-10 record.

NORTH BULLITT

Head coach Danny Clark wanted to get all of his pitchers some work before the start of the post-season, without any of them going for an extended length of time.

Senior Jordan White started for the Cougars against the Eagles and went three innings. He allowed no runs on one hit. He walked two and struck out five.

Tristan Willis took over in the fourth and pitched two innings. He allowed one run on three hits, walked two and struck out two. Michael McCubbin pitched the final inning, giving up one run on two hits. He walked one and struck out none.

Grayson County jumped on top with a pair of runs in the second inning. Alphonso Soto led off with a line-drive into the corner in right that went for a double. Greg Rainey’s single to right-center moved Soto to third, from where he scored on an infield single by Mikey Scott.

McCubbin followed with a high pop up behind second base that fell for a single, loading the bases as the runners had to hold. Willis then lined out to center deep enough to plate Rainey with the second run.

The Cougars sent nine men to the plate and scored five times in the third. White tripled leading off then scored on a single by Tyler Saltsman.

Soto grounded out, moving Saltsman to second, and he scored on a double to left by Rainey. Scott reached base on an error, and Rainey came around to score the third run of the inning on the play.

Willis followed by smashing a pitch off the scoreboard in left for a two-run rome run that made it 7-0.

The Cougars added a run in the fourth. Saltsman tripled with one out, then scored when Soto’s pop-up was dropped behind second for an error.

The Eagles scored their first run in the fifth off Willis. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs before Eagle pitcher Stewart Weber singled to right. One run scored to make it 8-1, but the runner at second was caught in a run-down and was tagged out for the third out of the inning.

Grayson County added two more in the fifth. Back-to-back singles by McCubbin and Willis and a wild pitch by Weber put runners at second and third. Catcher Shain Goff lofted a ball to center to drive in McCubbin to make it 9-1. Willis then went to third on another wild pitch and he later scored on a sacrifice fly by White to make it 10-1.

The Eagles scored in the fifth to make it 10-2, but the Cougars ended the game in the sixth to win by the 10-run rule. Rainey walked with one out then went to third on a hit-and-run single to right by Scott.

McCubbin laid down a sacrifice to move Scott into scoring position, then both runners came home on a single up the middle by Willis. Willis finished the game 3-for-3 with five runs driven in.

WARREN EAST

The Cougars committed six errors in this game which were instrumental in Warren East scoring four times in the third and four more in the fourth to take an 8-0 lead.

Rainey pitched the first two and a third innings, allowing four runs, none of them earned. He was relieved in the third by Saltsman, who ended the third but ran into trouble in the fourth. Saltsman allowed four runs, only one of which was earned, on five hits.

The Cougars started coming back with three runs in the fourth inning. Saltsman singled leading off and went to second on a wild pitch. He moved to third on a short single to left by Soto, then scored on a wild pitch.

Rainey walked before Scott hit a ball to first-baseman Josh Lamastus, who stepped on first for the out, but threw wildly at second, allowing Soto to score and Rainey to pull into third. Eighth-grade shortstop Brady Clemons followed with a single to left to plate Rainey to make it 8-3.

Grayson County added two more in the fifth. Sean Embry beat out a bunt for a hit leading off the inning. Saltsman singled with one out before Soto was hit with a pitch to load the bases.

Rainey grounded out for the second out, but Saltsman came in to make it 8-4. Scott walked to load the bases once more for Clemons, who also walked to drive in the second run of the inning.

The Cougars pulled to within a run of the lead with two more in the sixth after two were out. White singled and Saltsman walked putting runners at first and second. Soto then singled to right to plate White. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch before Rainey beat out an infield roller for a hit that drove in Saltsman. Soto was thrown out at the plate trying to score on the play to end the inning.

The Cougars threatened to tie or win the game in the bottom of the seventh. Scott singled leading off and was replaced on the bases by Brett Lindsey. Willis was hit by a pitch with one out, putting runners at first and second.

Adrian Board followed with a single to right. Coach Clark waved Lindsey around third, but finally held him up after Lindsey rounded the bag. As he tried to stop, Lindsey lost his footing and was thrown out at third for the second out. Embry then struck out to end the game.