04-26-2013, 11:32 PM
VANCEBURG | For the second consecutive evening, the Greenup County Musketeers defeated 63rd District foe Lewis County to improve to 4-0 in district play and put themselves in the driver's seat to claim the top seed in the district tournament next month.
Greenup erased a 4-0 deficit to post a 6-4 win on Monday at home before taking a 4-2 decision Tuesday at the Lions' ball park.
Senior right-hander Seth Boyle, who came into Tuesday's game sporting a sparkling 0.45 earned run average, surrendered just one earned run. Boyle kept Lewis off-balance most of the night, limited the Lions to five hits and struck out 10 in his route-going performance.
"Seth is a gamer," said Greenup coach Greg Logan. "He's ready for any challenge and he battled tonight. His biggest problem is himself at times, when he gets too excited. He plays for blood and after he struggled some early, he did a great job of getting ahead in the count and walked just two and hit a batter. He got a little rattled in the fifth inning but he was able to limit the damage and ended it with a big strikeout."
Logan is pleased with how his squad his coming together but also noted that the district, which also includes Raceland and Russell, is very balanced this season.
"No matter what happens, you still gotta win that first game in the district to get to the region and we have very good competition with anyone in the district this year," he said. "Lewis is no doubt the best team in the district but our boys are starting to buy in and get to where we want to be. They're progressing the way we want them to and this is a good win. Coach Keith Prater has done a very good job building their program and they've improved by leaps and bounds."
The Lions took a 1-0 lead with their lone earned run in the second inning. With two out, Jordan McCann hit a triple into the power alley in right-center field and scored when Jordan "Scooby" Davis lined a base hit to left.
Davis, a sophomore right-hander, went the distance on the hill for Lewis and nearly matched Boyle pitch-for-pitch. He allowed six hits, walked a pair, hit two batters and fanned three.
The Musketeers scored a pair in the third to take a one-run lead. Kyle Grubb led off the frame with a bloop single to right-center, stole second and scored when Jared Hunt grounded a base hit into left field. Hunt went to second on the throw to the plate, and scored when Davis' throw to second in an attempt to pick Hunt off the bag went into center field. Davis rebounded by retiring the next three hitters and wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth before Greenup scored another run in the fifth.
Gage Hughes drew a base on balls to lead off the frame before Zach Hutchinson bunted and Davis forced Hughes at second base. Jonah Stanley came on as a courtesy runner for Hutchinson and swiped second. One out later, he scored on a base hit to left from J.B. Brown to give the visitors a 3-1 lead.
The Lions answered with a run in the bottom half of the fifth, capitalizing on a pair of Greenup throwing errors on Lewis bunts. With one out, Trenton Walker's bunt was fielded cleanly by Boyle but his throw to first went down the right-field line and Walker ended up at third. Sammy Holder followed with a bunt that the third baseman sent past first, plating walker and sending Holder to third as the would-be tying run.
After Boyle hit Grant Liles with a pitch, the Lions had the possible go-ahead run aboard with one out but Levi Clark's line drive to left was caught by a leaping Korey Morris, who appeared to misjudge the ball but was still able to spear the liner for the second out before Boyle ended the threat with a strikeout.
The Musketeers added an insurance run in the seventh when pinch hitter Jerome Boggs doubled into the left field corner, advanced to third on Boyle's hard-hit grounder to third that resulted in an error and scored when Brown grounded into forceout at second base.
"Unlike earlier in the year, we got some timely hits tonight and our younger players are taking better approaches at the plate," Logan said. "Davis is a very good pitcher and he pitched well for them but we worked the count and had some good, quality at-bats."
The Lions (13-7, 1-2 in district play) host East Carter on Thursday before meeting Ashland Blazer at home the next day. The Musketeers are scheduled to play at Fleming County Wednesday but if that game is rained out, the two teams will meet on Thursday.
Greenup 002 010 1 --4 6 2
Lewis 010 010 0 --2 5 2
WP: Boyle, LP: Davis.
Hitting leaders: GC: Boggs 1-1, 2B, R; Stanley R; Brown 2-3, RBI; Hall 1-2; Grubb 1-2, R; Hunt 1-3, R. LC: Clark 2-4; McCann 1-3, 3B; Davis 1-2, RBI; Doyle 1-3.
Records: Greenup County 13-8, Lewis County 13-7.
Greenup erased a 4-0 deficit to post a 6-4 win on Monday at home before taking a 4-2 decision Tuesday at the Lions' ball park.
Senior right-hander Seth Boyle, who came into Tuesday's game sporting a sparkling 0.45 earned run average, surrendered just one earned run. Boyle kept Lewis off-balance most of the night, limited the Lions to five hits and struck out 10 in his route-going performance.
"Seth is a gamer," said Greenup coach Greg Logan. "He's ready for any challenge and he battled tonight. His biggest problem is himself at times, when he gets too excited. He plays for blood and after he struggled some early, he did a great job of getting ahead in the count and walked just two and hit a batter. He got a little rattled in the fifth inning but he was able to limit the damage and ended it with a big strikeout."
Logan is pleased with how his squad his coming together but also noted that the district, which also includes Raceland and Russell, is very balanced this season.
"No matter what happens, you still gotta win that first game in the district to get to the region and we have very good competition with anyone in the district this year," he said. "Lewis is no doubt the best team in the district but our boys are starting to buy in and get to where we want to be. They're progressing the way we want them to and this is a good win. Coach Keith Prater has done a very good job building their program and they've improved by leaps and bounds."
The Lions took a 1-0 lead with their lone earned run in the second inning. With two out, Jordan McCann hit a triple into the power alley in right-center field and scored when Jordan "Scooby" Davis lined a base hit to left.
Davis, a sophomore right-hander, went the distance on the hill for Lewis and nearly matched Boyle pitch-for-pitch. He allowed six hits, walked a pair, hit two batters and fanned three.
The Musketeers scored a pair in the third to take a one-run lead. Kyle Grubb led off the frame with a bloop single to right-center, stole second and scored when Jared Hunt grounded a base hit into left field. Hunt went to second on the throw to the plate, and scored when Davis' throw to second in an attempt to pick Hunt off the bag went into center field. Davis rebounded by retiring the next three hitters and wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth before Greenup scored another run in the fifth.
Gage Hughes drew a base on balls to lead off the frame before Zach Hutchinson bunted and Davis forced Hughes at second base. Jonah Stanley came on as a courtesy runner for Hutchinson and swiped second. One out later, he scored on a base hit to left from J.B. Brown to give the visitors a 3-1 lead.
The Lions answered with a run in the bottom half of the fifth, capitalizing on a pair of Greenup throwing errors on Lewis bunts. With one out, Trenton Walker's bunt was fielded cleanly by Boyle but his throw to first went down the right-field line and Walker ended up at third. Sammy Holder followed with a bunt that the third baseman sent past first, plating walker and sending Holder to third as the would-be tying run.
After Boyle hit Grant Liles with a pitch, the Lions had the possible go-ahead run aboard with one out but Levi Clark's line drive to left was caught by a leaping Korey Morris, who appeared to misjudge the ball but was still able to spear the liner for the second out before Boyle ended the threat with a strikeout.
The Musketeers added an insurance run in the seventh when pinch hitter Jerome Boggs doubled into the left field corner, advanced to third on Boyle's hard-hit grounder to third that resulted in an error and scored when Brown grounded into forceout at second base.
"Unlike earlier in the year, we got some timely hits tonight and our younger players are taking better approaches at the plate," Logan said. "Davis is a very good pitcher and he pitched well for them but we worked the count and had some good, quality at-bats."
The Lions (13-7, 1-2 in district play) host East Carter on Thursday before meeting Ashland Blazer at home the next day. The Musketeers are scheduled to play at Fleming County Wednesday but if that game is rained out, the two teams will meet on Thursday.
Greenup 002 010 1 --4 6 2
Lewis 010 010 0 --2 5 2
WP: Boyle, LP: Davis.
Hitting leaders: GC: Boggs 1-1, 2B, R; Stanley R; Brown 2-3, RBI; Hall 1-2; Grubb 1-2, R; Hunt 1-3, R. LC: Clark 2-4; McCann 1-3, 3B; Davis 1-2, RBI; Doyle 1-3.
Records: Greenup County 13-8, Lewis County 13-7.