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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