Cougars win two over Eagles

Published 11:50 am Friday, March 25, 2016

MONTICELLO – The Lawrence County Cougars swept a Division 6-4A doubleheader from South Pike Thursday, completing a three-game series sweep of the Eagles. The Cougars claimed the first game of the Jimmie Davis Park twin bill by an 11-1 score. In the nightcap, LCHS won by a 15-0 margin. Lawrence County won the opening game of the series at South Pike on Tuesday 17-0.

With the doubleheader sweep, Josh Garrett’s Cougars improved to 12-1 on the season, and 6-0 in Division 6-4A play. South Pike, coached by J.T. Thomas, remained winless on the season.

“We had a pretty good night,” Garrett said, “but the rest of our division season won’t be like this. Our regular season comes down to the next three weeks – nine division games. Obviously, we hope to play well.”

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Garrett’s Cougars played plenty well enough against South Pike. In the first game of the doubleheader, the Eagles actually had a short-lived lead. Pitcher Jesse Jordan led off with a single, stole second and third, and scored on a Keshun Nimox grounder.

Lawrence County scored two in the bottom of the first. Kasey Durr and Brandon Bullock both singled and scored. In the second, LCHS made it 5-1 as Gabriel Lewis singled and Bullock slammed the first of his three homeruns on the night.

In the bottom of the third, the Cougars put the game away with six runs on three hits. Durr and Marcus Atterberry had singles, and Bullock slammed a three-run homer. In the two games, Bullock went 4-for-4, with three homers and six runs batted in.

Making his first start of the year on the mound, Prentiss Anderson, who normally plays catcher for the Cougars, was outstanding. In five innings of work, Anderson allowed just one hit, walked one and struck out six. After Jordan’s leadoff single, Anderson allowed just one more base runner-a walk-and he got thrown out trying to steal second base.

Jordan, the South Pike pitcher who gave it a good fight in the first game, started the second game as well. Lawrence County got to him immediately. In the bottom of the first, Atterberry, Lewis, and Josh Stephens each had singles, and Bullock hit another homerun over the right field wall.

In the second, the Cougars added nine runs against three South Pike pitchers. Seth Bass and Kyle Graves had RBI singles, and Trey Thurman had an RBI double. At one point, six consecutive LCHS batters either walked or were hit by pitches.

In the bottom of the third, Walt Lowe led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Roy Martin grounder. That ended the game at 15-0.

Josh Stephens pitched three strong innings for Lawrence County. He allowed two singles and struck out four. Jesse Jordan and Christian Ming had the lone hits for South Pike.

Lawrence County will travel to Taylorsville for non-division action on Saturday. Junior varsity action begins at 1 p.m., followed shortly thereafter by the varsity game.