[Allsports#1]

VANCEBURG — Greenup County's baseball team expects a lot from senior pitcher Seth Boyle.

Boyle delivered Tuesday at Lewis County — 10 strikeouts in the Musketeers' 4-2 win.

It took Boyle about a nanosecond to identify what was most satisfying about last night.

“Definitely beating (63rd) district teams,” Boyle said. “Especially Lewis County, especially because they beat us three times (last year).”

Greenup County coach Greg Logan thinks the win — the second over Lewis County in as many nights — added “new excitement to the regular season.” As for Boyle, Logan has seen such performances before.

“We expect Seth to go out every game and have the game of his life,” Logan said. “... He seems to love pressure, he seems to handle the pressure really, really well. As much as we can keep the pressure on him, one day pressure is going to make diamonds.

“We're hoping we have a jewel right there.”

Boyle (6-0) threw 120 pitches, 71 for strikes. He didn't think he had his best stuff, and he wanted to get ahead in the count more than he did.

“I didn't have a good grip on my curveball, it wasn't breaking at all,” he said. “I just came back with a changeup and fastball and relied on those. I was just trying to work on spots.”

Boyle complained of a little tightness in his right shoulder near the end of the game. Logan thought about bringing in seventh-grader Gage Hughes to go for the save — he said Hughes was the only pitcher left because the bullpen was depleted after a tournament last weekend — but he stayed with Boyle.

“In a pressure situation like this, Seth wanted to finish the job,” Logan said. “He earned it; he's a senior.”

If sweeping the defending district champion Lions on successive nights (the Musketeers overcame a 4-0 lead in Monday's 6-4 win in Lloyd) wasn't enough, there were a plethora of additional reasons for Logan and the Musketeers to be pleased: Tuesday was the fourth win in five games; the district record improved to 4-0; and third baseman J.B. Brown had two hits and two runs batted in.

Lewis County (13-7) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a Jordan McCann triple and Jordan Davis' single.

In the third, Greenup County (12-8) scored twice. First baseman Kyle Grubb singled to center and stole second, followed by: center fielder Jared Hunt's single, which scored Grubb; and Davis' attempt to throw out Hunt at second, which instead sailed to deep center field, easily scoring Hunt.

Lewis County closed to within 3-2 in the fifth when it converted Boyle's two errors and Brown's one into a run. Boyle then erased the threat by striking out Levi Clark and Cory Christy.

Brown's RBI single in the sixth scored catcher Zach Hutchinson, who reached first on a fielder's choice and stolen base. An inning later, Brown's bases-loaded fielder's choice in the seventh scored pinch runner Jonah Stanley, who ran for pinch hitter J.T. Boggs, who doubled and reached third on an error.



GREENUP CO. 002 010 1 — 4 6 3

LEWIS CO. 010 010 0 — 2 5 2

Boyle and Hutchinson; Davis and McCann. W—Boyle. L—Davis. 3B—Thompson (LC). 2B—Boggs (GC).