Bluegrassrivals

Woodford scores 6 in the top of the 9th to win it. Great game by both squads.

#TheWood going to the ship!!

Woodford County will play for the state baseball championship after beating Bishop Brossart 6-0 in nine innings in the semifinals of the Kentucky National Insurance/KHSAA State Tournament at Whitaker Bank Ballpark on Friday night.

Woodford County wasted several scoring opportunities early in the game, but finally broke through with six runs in the top of the ninth for its 14th victory in a row.

Clinton Hollon, a junior right-hander, pitched 8 scoreless innings and gave up four hits and had 11 strikeouts. Hollon, who threw seven innings in the Yellowjackets’ first-round win over Powell County, had to be lifted after 8 because high school rules limit pitchers to 15 innings of work in a week.

J.T. O’Reel came on to retire Brossart 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Gage Beavers’ slow-roller fielder’s choice scored Justin Brown with the first run when the Brossart third baseman bobbled the ball.

After Rodney Gross walked and Logan Parrett reached on an error to load the bases, Eli Boggess brought everybody home with a double to the gap to make it 4-0.

The floodgates had opened, and the Jackets added two more runs.

Brossart’s Jesse Orth pitched eight innings of shutout ball, using off-speed stuff to keep Woodford County’s hitters off balance. Conner Verst came on in relief in the ninth, and the Jackets roughed him up.http://fieldsnotes.bloginky.com/#wgt=rss

Great for Woodford. Can't help but to be a homer and think Powell played them to extra innings, what could have been. Either way, congrats WC.

For Woodford County's baseball team and its thousands of full-throated fans, life is very good right now, and it has the possibility of being great.

Continuing their quest for a state title, the Yellowjackets scored six unearned runs in the ninth inning to beat Bishop Brossart 6-0 Friday night in the semifinals of the Kentucky National Insurance/KHSAA State Tournament.

Woodford County will ride a 14-game winning streak into Saturday night's finals against either Henderson County or Meade County.

"It's a great feeling, but there's still work to be done," said Coach Jeff Parrett, who acknowledged the Jackets' many loud followers at Whitaker Bank Ballpark this week.

"We don't always get a chance to celebrate like this in Woodford County, with an opportunity for a state championship. So everybody's savoring the moment and having fun, and thank goodness, it's a good time."

The semifinals were a tortuous time for both teams and the 4,129 fans as the Jackets and Mustangs kept wasting scoring chances.

Credit the pitchers.

Woodford County junior ace Clinton Hollon was in lockdown mode with his 92-mph fastball. He stymied the Mustangs on just four hits, and he had 11 strikeouts.

Brossart senior Jesse Orth baffled the Jackets with off-speed junk that registered in the 60s on the radar.

The Jackets left a runner at third in the first and left the bases loaded in the third, and they had a runner thrown out at the plate in the fourth.

"We were glad we had Clinton on the mound because that guy (Orth) was throwing a gem," Parrett said.

The closest Brossart came to scoring was in the eighth, when it had a runner at third with two outs and clutch hitter Zach Fardo at the plate.

"It was nerve-wracking out there," Hollon said.

He didn't show it, though: He got a strikeout to end the threat.

That was the end of Hollon's night. High school rules limit a pitcher to 15 innings in a week. Hollon went seven innings in the first-round win over Powell County.

The Jackets made that a moot point by scoring a half-dozen times in the ninth off Brossart reliever Conner Vest.

Justin Brown led off with a single, Gage Beavers reached on a fielder's choice, and Rodney Gross walked to load the bases. Logan Parrett's slow grounder to third was mishandled, and Brown scored the first run of the night.

Eli Boggess followed with a double to the right-center field gap, driving in three runs and sending Woodford County fans into a frenzy.

Boggess said he was never concerned about his team's string of scoreless innings.

"We knew Clinton would throw zeroes up there, and it was just a matter of time before we scored some runs."

The Jackets got two more in the ninth thanks to a second Brossart error.

Orth put a positive spin on Brossart's loss.

"It'd been better if we made it to the finals, but we gave it our all, and I couldn't ask for better teammates," he said.

Coach Ron Verst credited Hollon for shutting down the Mustangs. "Obviously, he's the best pitcher we've seen this year," Verst said.

"We've got nothing to hang our heads about. We accomplished more this season than any previous team in our school history."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/06/08/22180...rylink=cpy

Woodford Co. 000 000 006—6 12 1

Bishop Brossart 000 000 000—0 4 4

Clinton Hollon, J.T. O'Reel (9) and Gage Beavers. Jesse Orth, Conner Verst (9), Clay Karmer (9) and Tanner Norton. 2B—Norton (BB), Eli Boggess (WC).

Records—Woodford Co. 33-6; Brossart 27-13


Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/06/08/22180...rylink=cpy

LEXINGTON, KY. — Eli Boggess had a three-run double in a six-run explosion in the top of the ninth inning that gave Woodford County a 6-0 victory over Bishop Brossart in Friday’s semifinals of the National Insurance/KHSAA State Baseball Tournament at Whitaker Bank Ballpark.

The Yellowjackets (33-6) advanced to tonight’s 7 o’clock final against the winner of Friday night’s Henderson County-Meade County game.

Boone County collected four hits in the ninth and got plenty of help from the Mustangs (27-13), who had three errors, two walks and two passed balls.

The beneficiary was starter Clinton Hollon (4-0), who scattered four hits over eight innings and struck out 11 without a walk. J.T. Oreel pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out one.

Bishop Brossart starter Jesse Orth pitched eight shutout innings, giving up eight hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Conner Verst (4-4) got only one out in the ninth and was charged with all six runs, though none of them was earned. Clay Kramer got the last two outs.

Boggess was 3 for 4 with the three RBIs for the Yellowjackets, and teammates Chris Ares, Andy Stepp and Justin Brown each had two hits.http://saxo.highschoolsports.net/section...le?site=B2

Great run by the Mustangs

LEXINGTON - After the Bishop Brossart baseball team spent the better part of the first eight innings of its state baseball tournament semifinal game on Friday night dodging Woodford County scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity, it finally couldn’t dodge one in the ninth.

Woodford County didn’t score over the first eight innings against Brossart starter Jesse Orth, but then scored six runs off reliever Conner Verst, all of which were unearned, in the top of the ninth and went on to a 6-0 victory at Whitaker Bank Ballpark.

Woodford County (33-6), which like Brossart is appearing in its first ever Kentucky High School Athletic Association State Tournament, advances to Saturday’s 7 p.m. championship game against Henderson County.

While Woodford County didn’t score off Orth through the first eight innings, Brossart (27-13) also struggled against Woodford County junior ace Clinton Hollon. He regularly hit between 89-93 mph with his fastball, but after Hollon left a runner at third in the bottom of the eighth, he reached his maximum number of innings allowed for the week at 15 per KHSAA rules. He didn’t allow a run in those 15 innings and struck out 25, including 11 against Brossart.

Woodford County’s winning rally started with one out when Justin Brown singled to left off a 2-2 pitch. Gage Beavers, the No. 9 hitter, followed by hitting a grounder down the third baseline that freshman third baseman Spencer Hackworth fielded, but then threw low and into the dirt to second baseman Jared Hahn leaving runners at first and second. Leadoff batter Rodney Gross then battled back from a 2-2 count to walk to load the bases.

Logan Parrett followed by hitting a slow chopper to Hackworth, who tried to scoop and throw to the plate for the force, but bobbled the ball instead for another error to give Woodford County a 1-0 lead. Eli Boggess followed with the big blow, a three-run double to right center, to make it 4-0 and Woodford County would go on to score twice more.

Brossart got only four hits in the game off Hollon, who threw 99 pitches, 79 of which were strikes, but had runners in scoring position in the second, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth innings.

Senior Corey Kremer, the No. 9 hitter in the Brossart lineup, led off the bottom of the eighth with a bunt single, was sacrificed to second and advanced to third on a groundout bringing senior Zach Fardo to the plate. Hollon struck him out on three pitches, including a 91 mph fastball on his final pitch of the night.

“We had a couple of opportunities early in the game, but couldn’t get that big hit,” said Brossart coach Ron Verst. “I know that last inning we had Zach Fardo up. What guy would you rather have up there than Zach Fardo with a guy on third, but it just didn’t happen today. I’ll tip my hat to their pitcher. What an outstanding job he did.”

Orth was almost equally as good while at times throwing almost 30 mph slower thanks to an effective knuckleball.

“Not a lot of guys throw like Jesse,” said Verst. “He throws that knuckleball and it gets teams off balance and it’s worked for us this year and it worked today, but unfortunately we just couldn’t put a run on the board in the first eight innings.

“This was just a great experience for us. We accomplished more this season than ever before for our school. We’re such a young team and they get this game experience and we set the bar a little higher next year and see what we can achieve.”http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...306090019/

NIce going Mustangs you made us all proud

Best team in NKY this year.

^ Nope, no chance! The best team does not necessarily advance, and head and shoulders, the team that dominated NKY was Cov Cath!

Best team playing the first week in June?

nky Wrote:Best team playing the first week in June?

Yes, absolutely? Lefty was taking another potshot at NCC by making sure they got no credit, and we just couldn't let him carry on his non-sense!:trolldad2: