MONTICELLO – Lawrence County swept Forrest County in a best-of-three series to advance in the state playoffs.

The Cougars hammered Forrest County AHS 10-0 Friday in the opening game of the playoff series. The Cougars got a one-hit shutout from southpaw Josh Stephens, and a grand slam homerun from Brandon Bullock. Bullock went 3-for-3 to lead the Cougars as Lawrence County 10-run ruled Forrest County in five innings.

Lawrence County defeated Forrest County 4-0 in the second game to complete the sweep Saturday. The Cougars will advance to play Newton County next week. Game times have not been set.

“We had a great night,” coach Josh Garrett said after Friday’s win. “Josh just keeps giving us great games, and we were able to get some hits tonight, against a really tough pitcher. A couple of key at-bats broke this game open.”

Lawrence County got two in the bottom of the second. A Kasey Durr walk and a Brandon Bullock single set the stage for Stephens, who came to the plate with runners on second and third, and two out. Stephens hit a soft flair over Forrest County shortstop Dalton Reidon, making it a 2-0 game.

In the third inning, the Cougars exploded for eight runs, all of them coming after two were out. With two out and the bases loaded, LCHS second baseman Gabriel Lewis laced a 3-2 curveball into the right-center gap. All three baserunners scored, making it a 5-0 game. After a Brennan Lang double scored Lewis, Seth Bass was hit by a pitch, and Kasey Durr walked. Brandon Bullock then put the game away with a grand slam, which clanged off the side of the old gymnasium in right-center.

“Obviously, Brandon’s hit was a big one,” said Garrett. “But I thought Gabriel’s at-bat was one of the biggest of the season. He got big curveballs on 3-1 and 3-2 pitches, with the bases loaded. How often do you see that? If he goes down there, the inning ends with the score 2-0 instead of 10-0.”

That was more than enough for Stephens, who continues to put up one of the greatest pitching seasons in LCHS baseball history. Stephens faced just 17 batters in recording 15 outs. A fourth-inning single by Aggie standout Austin McCray was the only hit Stephens allowed. He plunked one batter, and struck out three.

Bullock led the Cougars with three hits, and Stephens added two. Lewis, Lang, Bass, T-Tez Cole and Marcus Atterberry also had hits.

Forrest County starter Brandon Kistler entered the game with an 8-1 record, and an ERA barely over one run per game. The Cougars chased Kistler in the third inning as he was replaced by left-hander Alex Burt.