MONTICELLO – The Clinton Arrows defeated the Lawrence CountyCougars 14-6 in baseball action Saturday afternoon at Jimmie DavisPark. The Class 6A Arrows banged out 14 hits en route to thenon-division win. First baseman Alex Gunn went 4-for-4, with a homerun, a double, and four runs batted in.

“We couldn’t get them out,” said sixth-year Cougar coach CoryKeyes. “Both teams were pretty pitched out from tough divisionweeks and they’ve got a team full of good hitters. Our guys threwOK. We just couldn’t get them out.”

It was an 8-run second inning that did Lawrence County in. TheCougars scored 2 unearned runs in the bottom of the first to grab a2-0 lead, but Clinton plated 8 in the top of the second. The Arrowsgot 6 hits in the frame. Gunn had a double and a home run in theinning.

“We had a 1-2-3 double play to turn,” said long-time LCHS assistantCraig Davis. “That would have gotten us out of that inning with a2-0 lead. As it was, we got out of the inning trailing 8-2. Whenyou play a team of that caliber, you make that play or you lose -badly.”

Willie Buckley smacked his third homer in 3 games as LawrenceCounty scored 2 in the bottom of the third to make it an 8-4 game,but Clinton continued to add runs against Cougar pitchers TuckerSmith, Jamie McCardle, and Dylan Lea. That trio gave up 15 hits,walked or plunked 6 Clinton batters, and struck out 2.

“It’s not that those guys didn’t pitch well,” Davis said. “Theygave it a good effort. We just didn’t have the stuff to get themout. At a 6A school, they’re usually going to have 9 guys in theschool that can really hit.”

Adam Watson whacked a fourth-inning home run for the Cougars, hissecond of the weekend. Buckley and Lea led the Cougars with 2 hitseach. Watson and Smith each had 1.

Joining Gunn in the multiple hit column were Clinton’s KyleWashington, Blake Gober, Brooks Warren, and Benji Barham, who had 2hits each. Arrow hurlers Jayme Monroe, Kyle Hartman, and GradyTurman struck out 6 LCHS hitters.

The loss marked the first 3-game losing streak in Keyes’ tenure atLCHS, and dropped Lawrence County’s overall record to 10-5. TheCougars will try to get back on track in a 3-game series with PortGibson this week. LCHS lost a double-header to North Pike onFriday.

“We had a tough weekend,” Keyes said, “against two very good teams.Our guys will bounce back, though. We’re still working to getbetter.”