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05-31-2012, 12:38 PM
Mercer Co. eliminates Jumpers, 4-0
By MICHAEL CHILDERS, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal
Danville — For the second straight season, Somerset and Mercer County met up in the 12th Region Baseball Tournament.
And for the second year in a row, it was the Mercer County Titans brining an end the Somerset Briar Jumpers’ season, as Jeremy Shope’s bunch came away with a 4-0 victory last night at Danville’s Admiral Stadium.
Somerset, with the loss, finished out the 2012 season with a final record of 25-12. Mercer County, meanwhile, earned a spot in the championship game against Danville, where they will look their win their second regional championship in a row.
Long-time Jumper head coach Phil Grundy was disappointed with the season-ending loss.
“It’s just disappointing, but we had a great season,” began Grundy. “Tonight, Jacob Long kept us off balance and we never really made an adjustment. Jar (Jarred Price) pitched well enough to win, he dominated tonight. We made errors, but those happen. You’ve got to put runs on the board, I’ve never seen someone win a game with zero runs.”
“Only one team is going to be happy at the end of the year, unfortunately this year, it’s not us.”
The Titans broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth advantage, taking advantage of two Somerset errors. Luke Horn, who reached on a fielder’s choice, would score on an overthrow to give the Titans a 1-0 advantage.
In the following inning, Mercer County’s Tyler Devine drilled a ball over the left center field fence for a two-run home run. Devine’s two-run blast put the Titans out front by three scores at 3-0.
Mercer County scored their fourth and final run of the evening in the bottom of the sixth frame, as a single from Jacob Long allowed Alex Guay to score, putting the Titans ahead, 4-0.
The Jumpers could never get anything going offensively, as they were held scoreless by Mercer County’s pitcher (Long). Somerset stranded six runners on the base paths and finished with five hits. The Titans had nine runners left on base, but banged out three more hits than the Jumpers (eight).
In seven scoreless innings on the hill, Long gave up five hits and had five strikeouts.
Somerset senior Jarred Price struck out eight batters in six innings on the mound in his final game as a Jumper baseball player. At the plate, Price had Somerset’s lone extra-base hit, which was a double.
Sophomore Jacob Pelston led the way for the Jumpers at the dish, finishing with two hits. Fellow sophomore Bryson Jones finished with a hit, while senior Andy Manning also tallied a hit in the four-run loss.
Despite the loss, Grundy is so proud of his team, particularly the senior class.
“I think this group of seniors finished with 105 wins in their four-year career,” stated the Somerset baseball head coach. “We really struggled early on in the season, but I left we got things put together. I love these seniors, they are going to go out and have great careers and I hope all of them stay healthy.”
“I hope that each and everyone of them remember their time here at Somerset with pride, because they put a lot of hard work in.”
The Titans, who finished as state runner-up last season, will get a chance to win their second regional banner in as many years tonight. The only thing standing in Mercer’s County way is the Admirals of Danville, who downed West Jessamine last night by a final tally of 2-0.
This evening’s championship game between Mercer County and Danville will get underway at 6 p.m. at Danville’s own Admiral Stadium.
SHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 3
MC 0 0 0 1 2 1 X — 4 8 1
WP: Long (MC)
LP: Price (SHS)
2B: Price (SHS)
HR: Devine (MC)
RBI: Devine 2, Long (MC)
http://somerset-kentucky.com/localsports...umpers-4-0
By MICHAEL CHILDERS, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal
Danville — For the second straight season, Somerset and Mercer County met up in the 12th Region Baseball Tournament.
And for the second year in a row, it was the Mercer County Titans brining an end the Somerset Briar Jumpers’ season, as Jeremy Shope’s bunch came away with a 4-0 victory last night at Danville’s Admiral Stadium.
Somerset, with the loss, finished out the 2012 season with a final record of 25-12. Mercer County, meanwhile, earned a spot in the championship game against Danville, where they will look their win their second regional championship in a row.
Long-time Jumper head coach Phil Grundy was disappointed with the season-ending loss.
“It’s just disappointing, but we had a great season,” began Grundy. “Tonight, Jacob Long kept us off balance and we never really made an adjustment. Jar (Jarred Price) pitched well enough to win, he dominated tonight. We made errors, but those happen. You’ve got to put runs on the board, I’ve never seen someone win a game with zero runs.”
“Only one team is going to be happy at the end of the year, unfortunately this year, it’s not us.”
The Titans broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth advantage, taking advantage of two Somerset errors. Luke Horn, who reached on a fielder’s choice, would score on an overthrow to give the Titans a 1-0 advantage.
In the following inning, Mercer County’s Tyler Devine drilled a ball over the left center field fence for a two-run home run. Devine’s two-run blast put the Titans out front by three scores at 3-0.
Mercer County scored their fourth and final run of the evening in the bottom of the sixth frame, as a single from Jacob Long allowed Alex Guay to score, putting the Titans ahead, 4-0.
The Jumpers could never get anything going offensively, as they were held scoreless by Mercer County’s pitcher (Long). Somerset stranded six runners on the base paths and finished with five hits. The Titans had nine runners left on base, but banged out three more hits than the Jumpers (eight).
In seven scoreless innings on the hill, Long gave up five hits and had five strikeouts.
Somerset senior Jarred Price struck out eight batters in six innings on the mound in his final game as a Jumper baseball player. At the plate, Price had Somerset’s lone extra-base hit, which was a double.
Sophomore Jacob Pelston led the way for the Jumpers at the dish, finishing with two hits. Fellow sophomore Bryson Jones finished with a hit, while senior Andy Manning also tallied a hit in the four-run loss.
Despite the loss, Grundy is so proud of his team, particularly the senior class.
“I think this group of seniors finished with 105 wins in their four-year career,” stated the Somerset baseball head coach. “We really struggled early on in the season, but I left we got things put together. I love these seniors, they are going to go out and have great careers and I hope all of them stay healthy.”
“I hope that each and everyone of them remember their time here at Somerset with pride, because they put a lot of hard work in.”
The Titans, who finished as state runner-up last season, will get a chance to win their second regional banner in as many years tonight. The only thing standing in Mercer’s County way is the Admirals of Danville, who downed West Jessamine last night by a final tally of 2-0.
This evening’s championship game between Mercer County and Danville will get underway at 6 p.m. at Danville’s own Admiral Stadium.
SHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 3
MC 0 0 0 1 2 1 X — 4 8 1
WP: Long (MC)
LP: Price (SHS)
2B: Price (SHS)
HR: Devine (MC)
RBI: Devine 2, Long (MC)
http://somerset-kentucky.com/localsports...umpers-4-0
05-31-2012, 12:39 PM
Prep Baseball: Mercer takes Long way back to 12th Region finals, tops Somerset 4-0
By MIKE MARSEE
[email]marsee@amnews.com[/email]
10:54 a.m. EDT, May 31, 2012
The defending 12th Region champions are defending the best way they know how.
Mercer County is within one win of a second straight trip to the state baseball tournament, having taken a decidedly different route than the one that took them all the way to the state finals a year ago.
This year’s Mercer team relies on small ball to produce enough runs to support its pitching and defense, and that formula worked to perfection for the Titans on Wednesday in their 4-0 victory over Somerset in a 12th Region Tournament semifinal at Admiral Field.
The Titans took advantage of a multitude of base-runners and an effective pitching performance by J.T. Long to blank Somerset 4-0 at Admiral Field and earn a spot in tonight’s regional final.
“We’ve been shaky at times, but it’s been a growing process for this team. There’s been a lot of pressure put on them following last year’s run, but they have just taken it, and here we are,” Mercer coach Jeremy Shope said. “I’m so proud of this bunch. They’ve battled a lot of adversity all year long, and what a time to come together and give ourselves another shot at it.”
Mercer (22-12) will play host Danville (31-9) tonight for the regional title.
Long threw a five-hit shutout for the Titans, extinguishing every threat Somerset tried to ignite and redeeming himself for a poor performance in the district championship.
Meanwhile, Mercer put its leadoff batter on base in every inning, and although that didn’t pay dividends early in the game, the Titans were confident that they would break through.
“We were hitting the ball, hitting it right to people. We knew if we kept it up it was going to get through,” Long said. “We’re not really a power team, we’re more of a small-ball team, and we played to our strengths today. We played that to perfection and played really good baseball.”
The Titans had only a handful of truly hard-hit balls off Somerset’s Jarred Price, the hardest of them a two-run home run by Tyler Devine that stretched their lead from 1-0 to 3-0 in the fifth inning.
“We left a lot runners on base early and just couldn’t get that big hit, but the way J.T. pitched it and we played defense, we gave ourselves a chance to win and just kept hanging in there until Tyler hit a big home run,” Shope said. “Tyler’s been swinging it well lately, and what a time for a senior with his experience to step up for us.”
Long pitched out of one last jam in the sixth inning, then retired Somerset in order in the seventh to finish off a complete game in which he threw only 80 pitches. He struck out five batters without a walk, and only three opposing hitters worked him to three-ball counts.
It was a far cry from the way Long threw the last time he took the mound eight days earlier, when he allowed six runs in the first two innings of an 8-1 loss to West Jessamine in the 46th District Tournament final.
“The difference today was he was able to work ahead of hitters and get his changeup working down and away and was able to throw that in any count,” Shope said.
Long wasn’t at his best thanks to a muscle spasm in his neck that appeared early in the day, but he got an assist from Mercer fan and nurse Dawn Davis, the daughter of the Titans’ scorekeeper, who massaged his neck between innings.
“I was over there getting massaged between every inning, and that really helped a lot,” said Long, who also had two hits. “All my off-speed pitches were moving, my fastball was even moving. I didn’t have the velocity that I usually have just because of my neck, but I kept them off balance with off-speed, and coach Shope called a really good game.”
Somerset (25-12) stranded five runners, four of whom were left in scoring position. The Briar Jumpers left runners at first and second in the fourth inning when Long got the third out on a soft line drive, and they had runners at second and third with two outs in the sixth before a ground ball ended the inning.
By then, Long had some breathing room thanks to the big blow by Devine, who followed Long’s leadoff single in the fifth by blasting a fastball toward the trees beyond left-center field.
“I lost it in the sun, but I heard everybody start screaming, ‘Home run!’ so I knew it was gone,” Devine said.
Devine’s teammates orchestrated a celebration for the occasion, falling to the ground in unison as he landed on home plate.
“I didn’t think they were going to do it, but they told me to jump, so I jumped and they all fell down. It was pretty cool,” he said.
Mercer took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Austin Horn reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base and scored on two Somerset errors, the last after a dropped third strike. The Titans tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning when Alex Guay, who was on base four times, reached on an error and scored on a two-out single by Long.
12th Region Tournament
At Danville
Semifinal
Somerset 000 000 0 — 0 5 3
Mercer County 000 121 x — 4 8 1
Jarred Price and Storm Wilson. J.T. Long and Alex Guay. W—Long. L—Price. 2B—Price (S). HR—Tyler Devine (MC).
http://www.centralkynews.com/amnews/spor...6951.story
By MIKE MARSEE
[email]marsee@amnews.com[/email]
10:54 a.m. EDT, May 31, 2012
The defending 12th Region champions are defending the best way they know how.
Mercer County is within one win of a second straight trip to the state baseball tournament, having taken a decidedly different route than the one that took them all the way to the state finals a year ago.
This year’s Mercer team relies on small ball to produce enough runs to support its pitching and defense, and that formula worked to perfection for the Titans on Wednesday in their 4-0 victory over Somerset in a 12th Region Tournament semifinal at Admiral Field.
The Titans took advantage of a multitude of base-runners and an effective pitching performance by J.T. Long to blank Somerset 4-0 at Admiral Field and earn a spot in tonight’s regional final.
“We’ve been shaky at times, but it’s been a growing process for this team. There’s been a lot of pressure put on them following last year’s run, but they have just taken it, and here we are,” Mercer coach Jeremy Shope said. “I’m so proud of this bunch. They’ve battled a lot of adversity all year long, and what a time to come together and give ourselves another shot at it.”
Mercer (22-12) will play host Danville (31-9) tonight for the regional title.
Long threw a five-hit shutout for the Titans, extinguishing every threat Somerset tried to ignite and redeeming himself for a poor performance in the district championship.
Meanwhile, Mercer put its leadoff batter on base in every inning, and although that didn’t pay dividends early in the game, the Titans were confident that they would break through.
“We were hitting the ball, hitting it right to people. We knew if we kept it up it was going to get through,” Long said. “We’re not really a power team, we’re more of a small-ball team, and we played to our strengths today. We played that to perfection and played really good baseball.”
The Titans had only a handful of truly hard-hit balls off Somerset’s Jarred Price, the hardest of them a two-run home run by Tyler Devine that stretched their lead from 1-0 to 3-0 in the fifth inning.
“We left a lot runners on base early and just couldn’t get that big hit, but the way J.T. pitched it and we played defense, we gave ourselves a chance to win and just kept hanging in there until Tyler hit a big home run,” Shope said. “Tyler’s been swinging it well lately, and what a time for a senior with his experience to step up for us.”
Long pitched out of one last jam in the sixth inning, then retired Somerset in order in the seventh to finish off a complete game in which he threw only 80 pitches. He struck out five batters without a walk, and only three opposing hitters worked him to three-ball counts.
It was a far cry from the way Long threw the last time he took the mound eight days earlier, when he allowed six runs in the first two innings of an 8-1 loss to West Jessamine in the 46th District Tournament final.
“The difference today was he was able to work ahead of hitters and get his changeup working down and away and was able to throw that in any count,” Shope said.
Long wasn’t at his best thanks to a muscle spasm in his neck that appeared early in the day, but he got an assist from Mercer fan and nurse Dawn Davis, the daughter of the Titans’ scorekeeper, who massaged his neck between innings.
“I was over there getting massaged between every inning, and that really helped a lot,” said Long, who also had two hits. “All my off-speed pitches were moving, my fastball was even moving. I didn’t have the velocity that I usually have just because of my neck, but I kept them off balance with off-speed, and coach Shope called a really good game.”
Somerset (25-12) stranded five runners, four of whom were left in scoring position. The Briar Jumpers left runners at first and second in the fourth inning when Long got the third out on a soft line drive, and they had runners at second and third with two outs in the sixth before a ground ball ended the inning.
By then, Long had some breathing room thanks to the big blow by Devine, who followed Long’s leadoff single in the fifth by blasting a fastball toward the trees beyond left-center field.
“I lost it in the sun, but I heard everybody start screaming, ‘Home run!’ so I knew it was gone,” Devine said.
Devine’s teammates orchestrated a celebration for the occasion, falling to the ground in unison as he landed on home plate.
“I didn’t think they were going to do it, but they told me to jump, so I jumped and they all fell down. It was pretty cool,” he said.
Mercer took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Austin Horn reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base and scored on two Somerset errors, the last after a dropped third strike. The Titans tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning when Alex Guay, who was on base four times, reached on an error and scored on a two-out single by Long.
12th Region Tournament
At Danville
Semifinal
Somerset 000 000 0 — 0 5 3
Mercer County 000 121 x — 4 8 1
Jarred Price and Storm Wilson. J.T. Long and Alex Guay. W—Long. L—Price. 2B—Price (S). HR—Tyler Devine (MC).
http://www.centralkynews.com/amnews/spor...6951.story
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