WESSON – The Lawrence County Cougars defeated the Wesson Cobras11-2 in high school baseball action Saturday afternoon. The Cougarsbroke open a tight game with a 7-run outburst in the top of thefifth, claiming their 21st win of the season.

With the win, Cory Keyes’ Cougars improved to 21-2 overall. TheCougars are 14-1 in Division 6-4A play.

Wesson, under coach Hugh Knight, fell to 15-5 overall. TheCobras are 4-1 in Division 6-2A.

Frankly, both teams will have bigger fish to fry this week,playing with their respective division titles on the line.

Wesson will play St. Andrew’s on Tuesday, with a Cobra winclinching the division championship.

Lawrence County will face Terry in a 3-game series, with thewinner earning a division title. Winning the division earns a teamthe right to host a first-round region playoff tournament.

On Saturday, Wesson’s Daniel Watson held the heavy-hittingCougars in check through 3 innings, shutting Lawrence County out onjust 1 hit. Wesson took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second,when Brandt Hood’s infield single plated Watson, who had led offthe frame with a single.

Lawrence County tied it at 1-1 in the top of the fourth, withoutthe benefit of a base hit. Two hit batsmen and an infield error ledto the unearned run.

The Cougars took advantage of 3 more free passes, and anothererror, to blow the game open in the fifth. Joseph Evans had a 2-runsingle in the inning, and Hartzog and Johnathan Stephens also hadRBI hits.

Trent Hartzog worked 4 innings for the Cougars and left with an8-1 lead, thus earning his fifth win of the season. He allowed 4hits and struck out 5.

Joseph Evans worked 2 innings of relief and allowed 5 hits, butpitched out of trouble and allowed no runs. Jake Russell threw thefinal inning, allowing a run on 2 hits.

Lawrence County added 3 insurance runs in the top of theseventh. Wesson got its second run in the bottom of theseventh.

Watson worked 4-plus innings for Wesson. Jonathan Grace pitched2 innings, and youngster Caleb Broome gained some experience in theseventh.

Strangely, the team that lost 11-2 actually outhit the winningteam. Wesson had 11 hits. Watson had 3. Mason Warren and MicahDavis each had 2. Corey Puckett, Chance Peets, Brandt Hood andJoseph Decker each had 1.

For Lawrence County, Johnathan Stephens and Marty Ballard eachhad 2 safeties. Evans, Hartzog, and Zachary Summers each had 1.